Ace Combat: Sheltering Wings
by zaochron333
Summary: The Neuroi has been defeated. It was all good and then. A happy ending to many. But when the enemy of humanity was gone. The weapon we built. The men with patriotic hearts we recruited. The magic power of the Witches...Whom do we fight next? [A loose adaptation (ambitious crossover) of Ace Combat Series's stories emerging with the setting of World Witches Series.]
1. Prelude

Neuroi. The enemy of humanity. The invader. Had been defeated.

A remarkable victory for all. Worthy of praise that could sing for generation after generation.

A happy end to everyone.

Then again…

A happy end…isn't always permanent.

It was all good and then. We rebuilt from the crumble of the old. Brick by brick. A foundation for the new civilization. Technology and science developed, catching up to its time.

As time went by and life moved on.

Things…many things were changed along the way.

The people. The mind. Politics. Ideology.

Small countries united and became some big nation. Some big nation was torn apart and created smaller ones.

Territory lines were redrawn on the map.

And here is a question for you.

When the enemy of humanity was gone, no longer to look forward to.

The weapons we built.

The men with patriotic hearts we recruited.

The magic power of Witches.

Whom do we use them on?

…

You have the answer?

Yup, right among ourselves.

Human versus Human. Just like in those old history books. What our ancestors have done before the Neuroi came.

And we're pretty amazed of how we were very, **_very_** good at it.

But the war did not start on by a decision of a dictatorship ruler or the first drop of blood from some assassination.

It was from the skies. The vast dark blue skies that my great grandma and her sister-in-arms had flew up there, side by side to fight the Neuroi.

Ulysses. We called it. A large asteroid that would hit our Earth in its own course. It was the end to mankind, many said. But of course, we didn't twiddle our thumbs around and wait for that imminent doom.

Like fighting the Neuroi, we're stubborn after all, and was quickly to find a way to fight it.

Every nation across the globe poured every available resource they have into building a gigantic defensive weapon network, Stonehenge.

Towering, massive railguns. They're capable of destroying the asteroids.

And they are energy suckers. They would swallow battery after battery like a baby eating candies.

If not thanks to the Witches and their magic power. It would be impossible for the Stonehenge to be fully operated.

There were four Stonehenge facilities set up across the Earth. One in China. One in Western Europe. One in Liberion, and the last one in South Africa.

The year was 1999 when Ulysses was coming close to Earth's orbit. Stonehenge has done its purpose like it should, but…Ulysses has one more trick up its sleeve.

Following the destroyed asteroid, hundreds of fragments of Ulysses had rained down on the Earth.

It was then. The spark of war was truly ignited.

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

* * *

 **Oceania Continent – Coral Islands / / 21° 53' 2'' S 166° 8' 28'' E**

 **1405hrs. August 14th, 2019**

When she was a little girl, she always thought that blue sky above her was always so vast. And nothing, nothing can't taint its beautiful color…until now.

Flying high in 2000 meters of altitude, she saw multiple columns of dense black smokes rising up from the burning facilities, destroyed military vehicles and planes.

Radioed voices were scrambled all over the channel along with statics within the headsets she was wearing.

Pity, was what she mentally could give to those soldiers below, who were in fact, her enemy. Only for momentary.

Then again, she couldn't afford such luxury, because at this moment, she was in the mid of pursuing one enemy.

"Haah…haah…hahh…"

The chase was on, she initially assumed that she was the hunter, she was, after all, her familiar was a wolf, hence explaining why she was having a pair of wolf ears on her head and a tail sticking out. When she moved in to intercept it, and somehow, instantly, in just a blink of an eye, she found herself was on the receiving end of it. The hunter has become the hunted.

This was just her fifth sortie, but she had downed a good number of enemy aircraft. She was confident about her skill, no one can defeat her, when she has the magic power of a Witch and her Striker Unit, a so-called broomstick which had helped the Witches to fight the Neuroi back in the past.

When technology had developed, so did the Striker Unit. Cladding around her bare legs was a third generation Striker Unit: MiG-21, a similar build with same features from Orussia MiG-21 fighter jet.

Besides her Strikers, in her hands was a Degtyaryov hand-held machinegun, a weapon belonged to her great grandma whom used it to fight the Neuroi. It has been passed down from her to her daughter, her daughter to her daughter as a relic, a family heirloom for story telling.

The girl often wondered if it would dishearten or upset her great grandma once she learned that her great granddaughter was using it to take…lives, human lives and Witches who were her enemies in this war, a war which no longer had any Neuroi present.

Her sortie today was to escort the bombers to deliver their payload onto a Liberion's air base set up on an island near to Australis.

The mission was supposed to be simple…hah, how simple always invited complications.

Before the first wave of bombers could have reach to the targets, they're already downed by enemy reinforcement, and these enemies were no greenhorns. They're good. Not just the pilots, but their Witch as well.

With visual alone, she confirmed that one enemy Witch had downed three Tu-95 bombers all by herself without anyone help.

Such performance was not often seen from those greedy capitalists, perhaps they're belonged to ARRF (Allied Rapid Reaction Forces).

That Witch is good, she mentally thought. Let's how good she is when she faces me.

With a fast beating heart, she directed her magic energy into her Striker's thrusters, bringing her to move in high speed, onward to the enemy Witch.

She had some good experience in a dog fight. No fighter plane could outmaneuver her in air combat. She even had _downed_ two Liberion Witches back in her previous sorties.

However, she soon realized that she may had chewed more than she could.

It was fast, and nimble. Every shot she fired, the enemy Witch successfully evaded them all at ease. She caught a glimpse of that Witch, that girl was wearing a dark blue-colored Striker Unit F-4 Phantom II and a…blue ribbon on the back of her head.

Descending herself down to a section of the island where the anti-air guns were reduced to scrapped metals, the Witch aimed her gun from right to left.

 _Where is she?_

The target was not in her vision.

"Where is she…?"

Suddenly, a cold shiver run through her entire back.

 _Behind me!_

The Witch turned herself in a 180 degree along with a spray of 7.62x39mm rounds from her light machine gun. Once the gun's barrel was cooled down, there was no one.

But she was there, the Witch thought. A certain dreadful feel was building up inside her chest.

Among the distant roars of planes' engines all mixed in, there's a sound of cannon cried out sharply, as calibers were whistling, indicating that they're coming toward her!

Quick on her feet, the Witch deployed her magic shield, successfully stopping the projectiles sent from the fighter, the same one began to make the fast approaching toward her.

 _It's coming right at me!_

The attack didn't stop there, a dark blue-colored F-4 swooped down like a hawk, releasing two missiles from its wings.

"Not so fast!" She cried out as she enhanced her shield, taking the missiles head on. Violent explosion promptly occurred. As soon as the dense smoke and fire were dismissed away, the Witch was remained unharmed.

Just when she put up her machine gun to splash that flying F4…

A crispy gunshot. Even though she was in the middle of an air battle, yet it so loud and so close to her location.

Slowly, she turned her head to her right, only to see there was a Witch, holding a battle rifle called FAL. She could see there was a faint smoke coming out from its barrel.

She then felt light headed, she wondered why. She placed her hand on the head, finding there was a red liquid stained on her glove.

Blood? Was it coming from her head?

…yes, it was indeed.

For some reason, her mind started to review all those moments briefly, the moment when she was an innocent child, when she first discovered her Witch power, when she enlisted into the army, to fight for her country, her father's face, her mother's face, her grandma, her great grandma's face and her friends…

Before the blackness took over her consciousness, she registered two things or just one thing.

That blue-colored craft and the silver-haired Witch, they're both bearing the same emblem on their tail, like an infinity symbol…no…it was…a blue ribbon…just like that Witch was wearing it on her head.

Soon, the Striker's running engine supplied by the Witch's power was soon stopped, rendering her to free fall like a rock, straight down to the portion of the island below, allowing the lush green land to consume her.

"Bandit is down." The silver-haired witch wearing blue ribbon announced her kill to AWASC.

« Copy that, Mobius 2. Do you have any visual on the chute? »

"Negative. Enemy is KIA."

Her diamond blue eyes still kept on the last known location where the enemy witch had felled. She couldn't see the body, but it was there.

Naturally, no one could have survived such fall, not even the witch.

« Bandit confirmed at vector 3-5-0. » AWASC updated the battle situation. « Allenfort Air Base is on the nose. »

« This is Allenfort. We're under attack! The runway and facilities are hit! » The voice cried out hysterically along with the ringing siren in the background.

« Mobius team, intercept them. »

AWASC's order was soon responded from the said team.

« This is Mobius 1. Copy. » replied the male pilot flying the blue-colored F4.

"Mobius 2…Copy."

« Still alive there, sis? » asked Mobius 1.

"Yeah, no need to worry, _bro_."

« Copy that. » He chuckled.

Cocking the weapon in her hand, Mobius 2 soon flew straight into the heat of on-going air battle.

Gaining on a Tu-95 bomber flying on a low altitude, Mobius 2 aimed her battle rifle through its iron sight toward the crew's cock pit and opened fire.

\/ /\ \/


	2. Mission 01: Night Crawler

Ulysses Disaster. It's almost 20 years since that fateful day. Time sure flies. When I was a kid, I saw how beautiful those falling stars were at that night and innocently made countless wishes from them.

I never thought what sort of impact it'd made, changing our planet forever.

Britannia, Gallia, Karlsland, Hispania, Orussia, Fuso and many more countries were on the receiving end of those Ulysses fragments.

United States of Liberion and other neighbor countries that were luckily spared from the disaster quickly lent their aid.

In the Period of Restoration, the Liberion continued to flourish than ever before. They always fancied themselves the only nation that could bring peace and stability to the world.

But they're also the opportunists.

Ruined countries had to sell a piece of their land, piece by piece to the one with big wallet in order to subside the economic troubles. Along with it, the old government were replaced by the new. Empire dissolved, changing into Republic or Federation.

Amidst all that, one nation was remained strong, having itself functioned as the backbone for central Europe's running economy. Kingdom of Erusea.

The refugees without homes came to Erusea in drove, putting the country into the state of chaos and on the verge of civil war. Amazingly, their sovereignty was remained strong as the charisma and words of Princess Cossette calmed the people.

Different religious, different races, different languages, they were united under it, one flag, one royal family.

Still, one problem remained. With the natural resources were scattered and limited, humanity soon turned to the new source of energy: Solar power.

Stretching far up to the sky, the rope to the universe. Space Elevators were built.

One was built on the edge of Southern Europe, in hope to help and keep the wheels of civilization rotating, however, such kindness often mistook.

[ **The Kingdom of Erusea has declared war on United States of Liberion** ]

It was a bombastic headline, and the moment when it was announced. The Space Elevator was already seized by Erusean task force.

'Retribution for years of exploitation', they claimed. Oh, and of course, violation of nation's sovereignty since the Space Elevator was right next to Erusea's territory. What reason to go to war could have been more legit?

Unprepared neighboring countries were quickly fell by the might of Erusean army. The Neo United Nations (NUN) and Liberion quickly mobilized their force to stop the invasion. Such a major conflict was soon called: The Continental War.

And the war against Erusea didn't stop there. Insurgents and separatists also began to make their move, attacking their own current government with the idea to restore the country back its former glory.

In hope of putting a stop to these attacks, NUN organized a new high readiness force for deployment worldwide: Allied Rapid Reaction Forces (ARRF), with men and women from different nations throughout the world, aiding their effort into the war fighting Erusean and terrorists.

And somehow, here I was, sitting on a rear seat of an ARRF affiliated F-4 which was engaging the Erusean bombers. In front of me was a pilot who displayed himself as an ace. He downed four bombers and a couple of Erusean fighters before I could even register it. Instead of trying to get a good view of the on-going air battle with my camera, I only tried to keep myself from vomiting as the whole world was spiraling and turning upside down.

« Oh, sorry. You alright back there, buddy? » He took notice of my groaning.

"Y-yes, I—I'm fine. I'm okay." I lied, so that it wouldn't hinder his skill, his ability to fight.

He always went straight for the kill once the radar has locked on targets. He was a good pilot as he showed no signs of cockiness or reckless like young cadets I have flew with for my previous covered stories.

Besides him, there was also a wingman, well, a Witch actually. Silver hair, diamond blue eyes, and she was wearing a blue ribbon on her head.

She was young, like a high school girl. I honestly thought that she should be studying, or chatting along with her classmates back in school where the flame of war hasn't reached yet. Not flying out here, carrying a weapon to shoot down enemy planes and…taking down a Witch.

I did learn and knew that young witches, _younger_ than her had enlisted to fight Neuroi, the Earth invader back in the past. But it sure was strange and…a grim sight to see.

However, these girls have joined the army on their own accord, wanting to protect their home, their loved ones, and to prove how strong they were.

Most of them didn't stay in the army for long, because when they've reached to the age of twenties, that's when their magic started to decline. I heard that there were a few exceptional cases that their magic was still maintained even in adulthood, but they're just rumors.

When the war officially broke out, the number of genuine serving Witches in every nation was reduced to around three or two digits. Restricted recruiting age went up from 13 to 16, and they would have to go through an intensive training course for about two years before they're officially to be deployed.

In this day and age, they became the controversial and debating topic.

Child soldiers. They're the strong words.

Despite it all, there was no denying of how vital it was that a Witch's power can change the tide of battle.

Erusean Witches were the notable example. They're Erusea's youngest heroes when they have beaten the Liberion's flying fortresses when they've tried to bomb the Kingdom's Capital out of retaliation.

Such thinking had distracted me momentary when I saw the ribbon Witch had intercepted the bomber. She opened fire her battle rifle right into the cockpit. I could feel that the crew was panicked when they've lost the control of their plane. I felt pity for them, like the Reaper has arrived, knocking on their door.

« This one is yours, Mobius 1. » I heard her soft, yet emotionless voice as she broke away from the bomber, paving the way for...us as we approached to the damaged bomber from the rear.

« Much obliged. »

By his words, the long beep noise was sounded off when the radar has locked on the target.

« Mobius 1. Fox 2. »

The fired missile struck hard on the bomber's body, rendering the bird to descend down as fast as it was disintegrating into pieces.

The battle was in favor to us. Enemy soon turned their tails once their last bomber was shot down.

« The remaining hostiles are retreating. »

« Woo-hoo! Alright! »

« That's a round up. Let's go on home. »

Radioed voices of allies were cheerful.

« Sky Eye, this is Allenfort. Got visual on the downed bomber. » The base operator said. « Whose kill was that? Make sure to thank him. »

« _Her_ , actually. » The pilot in front of me muttered along with a small chuckle.

I turned my eyes to where the silver-haired Witch was. I noticed that her altitude was oddly descending fast.

"She is dropping down. Is she alright?" I asked.

« Not to worry, she is just hungry. A couple of hot chow will get her back on her feet in no time. » His carefree voice told me that this was a daily thing.

« Mobius team has done a great deal today. »

« Thanks to you two, we own you one. »

« No problem. »

« I'm hungry… » Mobius 2 said weakly.

« C'mon Mobius 2. Try not to crash landing this time again. » said a female pilot.

« …garh… »

Her soft groaning over the radio simply earned a few good chuckles from her fellow flights.

\/ /\ \/

* * *

After the operation, I learned that we're setting course for Fuso Federation. It was an island nation highlighted for its creation of Striker Unit for the Witches to combat the Neuroi.

Ichiro Miyafuji, was a brilliant mind behind the Striker Unit's development. I also learned that his daughter, Yoshika Miyafuji was an ace among aces in 501st Joint Fighter Wing, also known as Strike Witches.

Amazing, both father and daughter. But still, I wonder how Dr. Miyafuji would feel now when the mankind was using his creation to serve for the war, the war between humans?

War…an abstract idea, a spectacle show appeared on television and newspapers to the people sitting comfortably on their sofa. But the stories behind the word 'War' was what I seek.

Thanks to some old friends in the force and their connections, I was able to join this Task Force 108th.

 **Mirai** , it was the name of the aircraft carrier which I was on. In Fusoan language, it meant: Future.

There were a lot of interesting characters onboard, but one pair had stood out most.

118th Tactical Fighter Wing. Mobius Team. They're the rising stars in ARRF.

While their identity was kept secret, but basing on what I have heard from the crew and soldiers on the carrier, and the interaction between them. They're sibling, well, no surprise there when I spotted the resemblance between the two, silver hair and blue eyes.

The Mobius Prince and the Ribbon Princess. They're odd-sounding, yet affectionate nickname given by their peers.

* * *

It was late at night; the crew was celebrating their victory with alcohol and a fancy buffet set in the mess hall.

I noticed that Mobius 1 was carrying a large plate having many portions of food, it was enough for two people.

"I see that you're a big eater." I jokingly said.

"Oh no, I'm not." He laughed. "It's for my sister."

His answer caught me off guard there. I soon took a look around the mess hall, his sister was not here. Seeing Mobius 1 was making for the exit, I quickly came to a conclusion that he was bringing the food to her.

"Say, you can stick with me. I'm sure you want to interview us, right?"

"Totally! I mean...thank you." I was quite embarrassed there.

I then followed him to the crew quarters.

…

…

"Yo, little sis. Here comes your humanitarian aid." Mobius 1 said as he opened the door, entering the room.

"…fooooood~" The figure said weakly on bed. With a blanket wrapped herself in, she was like a mummy.

She soon ate…no, more like she was devouring the food like a hungry beast. But of course, the thought only kept to myself.

"I'm kinda shy around the strangers." It's her answer when I asked why she didn't come down to the cantina.

She's kinda cute when she said that.

"I've heard that you two are from the United States?"

"Snooping around like that. Are you some kind of spy?" Mobius 1 showed a (acting) suspicious face.

"I have my…sources." I laughed awkwardly, then continued on with another question.

"So what have led you two to join the ARRF?"

"I want to see the world." Mobius 2 answered.

That was…surprising and rather amusing.

"But wouldn't joining the Liberion Air Force would be easier, and since it'd be the first thing that would come to mind?"

"Yeah, it did. But…Sole Survivor Policy."

"Oh." I immediately understood.

Sole Survivor Policy. It was a regulation introduced after the death of five brother. With the law, siblings in the force would get separated, each served in a different unit.

"Besides, I need to keep an eye on my dear brother here or who knows what sort of problem he would get himself into."

I almost laughed at that point when Mobius 2 said it.

"Oh, I'm sorry. What you mean is, the _other_ way around." Mobius 1 remarked. "You're always the reckless type. Make our poor mother's heart go withering from the moment you declared that you'd joining the NUN Peace Keeping Force."

"It sounds like she did that when she was…sixteen years old back then?"

"Indeed." She said.

" _Fifteen_!" Her brother corrected it. "And she didn't even finish school yet."

"Always hate the school. And those juvenile types in there." Her annoyed expression was enough to guess the general plot.

"Sounded like a public school."

"It **is**." She nodded.

"Oh, I feel ya." I chuckled.

"Weak get eaten by the strong."

"Hey now. That should be implied to you, _the_ strong." Her brother continued to point out. "It happened to that…Karen girl, right? When you've sent her to the hospital by breaking her jaws?"

"Only her nose. And that bi— _she_ deserved it."

Even though I'm still pretty much a rookie in this line of work. But I do know one thing that all men from across the globe are admitted that: Girls…are scary.

"What?"

She shot her icy glare at me.

"…It's nothing." I avoided her gaze.

I then noticed the blue ribbon hanging by the wall. I vividly remembered the ribbon on her head was quite appealing, liked some sort of her trademark.

"About the emblem on your tail, the blue ribbon. Is there any reason you've chosen it?"

"…"

She somehow remained silent as she returned to eating the food.

"No particular reason." Her brother answered in her stead.

But I spotted there was a hint of sadness behind her blue eyes.

I sensed there's a story behind it, but I guess I need to earn their trust first.

With the camera in my hands, I decided to ask Mobius 2 a few more questions.

"May I ask what your familiar is?"

"It's a Dove." She answered.

A dove, it certainly has a lot of meanings, but the common one is often known of was: It's a symbol of peace.

Ironic.

"Got pretty handy with it when I first discovered my power."

"So you have went through two years training course in the army?"

"That's right. As soon as I finished my training, I was deployed in Middle East to suppress a band of insurgents."

I avoided the questioning about downing the Witches in combat. I feared that it would be a sensitive subject, not only to her, but to other pilots as well.

Some of them admitted that they would rather to avoid combating the Witches, just so not to engage and forced to take them down. Because of their appearance and their age…Child soldiers, indeed.

Mobius 1 didn't have an opinion about it. Perhaps he didn't want to think, because that was the only way he could function as a soldier, to become a killing machine, so he can stay alive. That thought would be applied to his sister too.

Although, Mobius 2 was like a foot soldier rather a pilot. I came to such thought when I was interviewing her.

And she rather has more things to say than her brother. At least, that was my hunch.

Then without a warning, a buzzing alarm had made my heart jumped.

« Mobius 2, report to the bridge. I repeat. Mobius 2, report to the bridge. »

\/ /\ \/

 ***BGM: Ace Combat 4 – Operation***

"Liberion's spy satellite has picked up some unidentified unmanned drones flying toward the south region of Fuso. They believe that they're scouts, trying to gain some intels on Liberion-Fuso naval base and their Seventh Fleet, Normandy. Fortunately, we're the closet force to intercept those drones. With the demand of swiftness, strike fast, and hit hard in this operation. Mobius 2, this is your time to shine. Your mission: Intercept and destroy them."

"Usually, I would have another Witch to accompany you but their magic is running low so you'll be flying solo for this one. Report to the deck below and prep yourself to arm. Good luck."

\/ /\ \/

Inside the aircraft carrier was much more… _graphical_ than the usual sight you see the aircraft's runway from bird eye view. Not just fighter planes but there're armored vehicles parked alongside them.

I spotted there're several Striker Units, each was clamped in the Striker utility holder.

Mobius 2. Unlike other pilots wearing the flight suit, she was wearing a moss-colored infantry outfit. Even though it was a military standard issue, it included a short skirt and black spats, leaving her bare legs exposed, so she would put them into the Striker later on.

Her uniform was bearing a Mobius emblem patch on the shoulder sleeve while the patch of ARRF was on the chest. Three arrow-like icon was the symbol of ARRF.

Mobius 2 chose the same blue-colored Striker, the F-4 Phantom II model that I saw in action.

In the past, the propeller type was a type of broom for the Witches to fly. With the advanced technology, the new generation Striker Unit now can be equipped with missiles or bombs, functioning like a multirole fighter, and needlessly to say, the Striker was twice as big as the user.

She then moved on to the next preparation: weapon selection.

Like every other missile attached under the plane's wings, the missiles to put on the Witch's Striker Unit was designed in a compact size. Their length was about a baseball bat. Small but deadly.

However, what people were paying their attention most to was her… _gun_ selection.

FN MAG equipped with a red dot sight was her primary weapon. It was a general-purpose machine gun and it has been used by more than 80 countries. It was a heavy-looking weapon, but with the power of the Witch, Mobius 2 held it casually in one hand without breaking a sweat. Along with it was FN FAL, her secondary weapon.

"Man, it's sure strange to see a pilot outfitting herself like some Rambo."

"She's not a pilot. She's a Witch. _Big_ different."

Overhearing the crew's conversation, I chuckled along. "I couldn't agree more."

"Make sure you bring my babies back in one piece, okay?" The dark-skinned man who was the armorer said. "Hate to see them sink down to the bottom of the ocean."

"I'll try." She replied, but it's unclear whether she was committed to it or not.

Next up was a gadget for her head. Similar to a pilot helmet, it was a certain type of headsets with microphone but came along with a visor which can display a HUD, showing radar, altitude, speed, the status of her Striker, number of bullets and missiles. It was very useful device for Witches to engage in combat.

Then I noticed that Mobius 2 was the only one being prepped to deploy. Her brother was there, but he simply stood by and watch her preparation.

"Is it alright for her to fly out there alone?" I asked.

"Like me, she prefers to do things alone."

"Ok, fire her up." After the final checking, the crew signaled to her.

Immediately, a two wing-like parts was erected on top of her head along with a tail at the back. Following, a glowing blue magical sphere was deployed right under her Striker's thrusters as they were coming to live, roaring loud. I could feel the wind was slashing onto my face mercilessly.

"No matter how many I look at it. I never get tired of such amazing sight." A crewman commented.

Truly. I thought as I started to take a few pictures of her.

An iconic image of a Witch, wielding impossibly heavy-looking weapon that combat vehicle or trained, muscular soldier could carry.

The central elevator soon began to ascend, bringing her up to the runway.

"Good luck out there." Her brother said.

"Just save some chicken wings for me when I get back."

"Wilco."

"Hey! Take this." I tossed something toward her. Good thing that I was skilled with throwing stuff.

It was a chocolate bar, my emergency ration to take when the local food didn't fit with my taste.

"Thanks." Mobius 2 appreciated it.

The preparation for the Witch to launch was quickly underway. Excluding the hooking the catapult to the planes process, the glowing blue magical sphere underneath the Striker continued brightening up more and more.

« Mobius 2. You're cleared for takeoff. »

By Mirai's permission, F-4 Striker immediately launched away like a bullet.

« Altitude restriction is lifted. Good luck out there. »

…

* * *

 **MISSION 01**

 **NIGHT CRAWLER**

 **0114hrs. August 15th, 2019**

 **Pacific Ocean / / 26° 53' 40'' N 224° 59' 14'' W**

 **Cloud Cover: Scattered**

 **Operation Name: Stalker**

\/ /\ \/

« This is AWACS Sky Eye to Mobius 2. Your objective is to intercept the UAVs before they enter Fuso's airspace. »

"Wilco."

« Don't forget to turn on the Night Vision mode on your visor. Even though the moon is bright but the clouds would go over it from time to time. »

Pity, she was more preferred on using her own eyes rather the gadget.

« There they are. You should see those blips on your radar now. There should be five of them. »

"Confirm, they are on my radar."

The ARRF Witch then directed her magic into the Striker, gaining the speed rapidly as she flew to the coordinates.

Once Mobius 2 reached close enough, the visor's HUD displayed five said targets, each was surrounded by hexagon-shaped container.

Silently, the Witch placed the machinegun's stock on her shoulder, finger on the trigger's guard, a blue eye aimed through the red dot sight toward the selected target.

« Mobius 2. You're cleared to engage. »

The primary weapon was swiftly cocked.

Those drones wouldn't know what will hit them.

"Mobius 2, engaging."

With a couple of firing bursts, the armor-piercing bullets torn through the machine as easily as it's butter. The UAV soon caught on fire. She could see the bright burning dot within her night vision.

The drones' formation immediately broke away. They were fast and agile, but that suited just fine for Mobius 2. They might outrun the bullets, but can they outrun the missiles?

Tailing on a new target, the HUD soon locked on the target.

"Mobius 2. Fox 2."

The compact-sized missile detached from her Striker's sidewinder and launched toward the designated target.

« Mobius 2, slashed another bogey. » Sky Eye confirmed the target's destruction.

Three remaining. However, the drones flying was getting more erratic, for they didn't seem try to get away. In fact, one of them was almost hit her at one point.

"Are they trying to fly or trying to ram at me?" She growled.

« I believe they're doing both. But the guys controlling these drones are definitely noobs. Just shoot them all down. »

It was a game of tag. She was 'it', but she was very good at being 'it'.

The air manoeuvring of a Witch was quite similar to a helicopter. Using the opportunity they're trying to ram at her, Mobius 2 acted herself like an AA turret.

Pulling the trigger, the machinegun sent a number of projectiles and nailed two drones before they could get to her.

One remaining.

It turned tail around and tried to escape.

Mobius 2 gave chase and quickly put a missile at it.

She watched its destroyed body along with its torn pieces diving right into the sea.

"This is Mobius 2. That was the last of them."

« Confirm. All targets are…Wait, hold on…damn! More drones. They are showing on vector two-eight-five. »

Mobius 2's radar soon revealed her the same thing, showing 5 more blips on the radar.

"Another group of drones..."

« Mobius 2. Should I call it in? »

"Negative. I got this." The Witch swiftly changed a new fresh box magazine for the weapon and as she flew there to meet them.

She welcomed those crafts with a shower of lead. She fired rapidly like a madman. Some hit and some didn't. Those machines were built to take hit, they weren't as fragile as they looked.

Tackling onto a pair of evasive drones, the moment a drone was shot down when her machinegun was run out of ammo once more, but she didn't spare a single minute to reload with a new magazine. Instead, she used it _as_ a baseball bat and smashed right into the other drone, promptly having it to spin round and round wildly as it was diving into the pitch-black sea below.

« Mobius 2…homerun! »

"Sorry…" Looking at the pitiful state of the weapon, she muttered her apology before she let it go and switched to her secondary weapon.

« Be careful, Mobius 2. I'm seeing those drones have changed their flying courses and are coming toward you. I think you've pissed them off. »

"Good. Don't want to chase them far—"

Immediately her HUD displayed a warning of incoming missile.

« Mobius 2. Missile. Evade! »

She quickly did so by increasing the speed of her Striker while deploying flares to draw the heat-seeking missile away. Upon the detonation, two more were coming in from the same direction. The ARRF Witch rotated herself around as she welcomed to them with a hail of bullets, rendering them to explode in midair.

"Sky Eye, these drones are different. They're armed."

« Copy that. I'll call in the reinforcement this ti— _*static*_ No sense to play a he—o _*static*_ Fal—ack, Mob—wo— _*static*_ »

"AWASC? Say again. You're breaking up. Sky Eye? Respond."

The only thing she could hear was the noise of statics. She then noticed her radar was also acting funny.

"Jamming? From those drones?"

No sense of standing around to play detective. To her, the objective was unchanged. Mobius 2 checked up her inventory on the HUD. One missile left and still plenty of ammo to shoot.

 _Lets do this._

The Striker Unit didn't fail her as she intercepted them and evaded those incoming missiles. She felt that she was…tangoing with them. No matter how fast and sneaky they were, Mobius 2 was able to shoot them down with her light automatic rifle.

When the last remaining drone was shot down, the radio static noises soon replaced with AWASC's worried voice.

« Finally! Picture is clear. Mobius 2. Are you still with us? »

"This is Mobius 2. All targets are eliminated."

There was a brief moment of silence.

« …confirm. No more hostile on the radar. That was pretty reckless of you doing back there, Mobius 2. But…good work. Mission accomplished. RTB. »

\/ /\ \/

On the way back to Mirai, the adrenaline was starting to wear off as Mobius 2 felt a dreadful hunger.

"Ugh…so hungry…"

« Haha, come on. Hang in there. I'll give you my muffins when you get back. »

 _I don't think I would last that long…_

She than remembered the chocolate bar that the report has given to her. She quickly unwrapped it and took a piece of it.

"Delicious…" She was relief as her magic was recovered bit by bit, like she was being refueling in mid-air.

The ribbon Witch then rotated herself so she can see the night sky above.

"It's been twenty years already…the sky is still full of those little rocks above?" She asked out loud, not expecting any respond, however, Sky Eye soon spoke up.

« Yeah, you weren't born at that time. But I hate to admit, it was a pretty sight back then. »

"…"

Mobius 2 quietly put one of her hands up toward the moon, trying to reach up to it.

…

* * *

 _When I just turned around fourteen, my hometown was already occupied by the Erusean troop coming down from the west._

 _With their kingdom was having some economic troubles. So waging war and conquering neighbor for the natural resources were pretty much of their options on the table? Why they didn't simply ask for help? An adult mind always makes things complicated._

 _Then again, me, a young girl back then would never know how an adult's mind work._

 _Before the war, both of my parents died in a car accident. I moved in and lived with my aunt who was a nurse of a town's hospital. Because of injured soldiers bringing back from the front line, her presence was almost never at home._

 _Alone. Solitude and quietness were only my comfort._

 _~ The girl's diary ~_

 _\- Page 1 -_


	3. Mission 02: Sanctioned Assault

"Alright, settle down."

The muttering continued.

"Settle down, people!"

It was the words coming from the operator. His voice ceased the occurring noises inside the meeting room where seats were filled with pilots and combatants of Task Force 108th.

"As you all know. Thanks to Mobius 2's effort last night. The Fuso airspace is remained unstained from the enemy's eyes."

A few whistles and cheers were made, congratulating the named Witch, who was still…sleeping at some point. The male pilot who bore the same silver hair as her, gave her a light nudge to make her awake.

"We should be arriving to the capital of your so-called sushi and anime land. However, there's been a change of plan."

Following the Operator's announcement, a few groans and sighs were made, but a noticeable one was coming from a certain young red-haired girl with a twin tails style.

"Oh come on!" She groaned.

"Liberion's Intelligent Department has a confirmation on an insurgent force is concentrating on a remote island near to Fuso's mainland."

The screen swiftly shifted to a satellite image showing one specific said island.

"They believe that this island is holding one of Insurgents supply bases."

"How come did the Liberion only find out it till now?" asked a male pilot with a Britannian accent.

"The Liberion new spy satellites have been launched recently are the answer. Its eye has picked up some unusual...magical energy. After a throughout scan, they soon found out that it was right under their nose."

"Witchcraft, eh?"

He earned a few un-amused looks from the witch companions.

"Wot?"

"Whatever the method they've kept hidden themselves for long, one objective is remained…"

"Destroy the enemy base."

The words brought a mixed reaction. Some were excited. Some were nervous. As for a certain silver-haired Witch, she was still half-awake, half-asleep.

The screen quickly shifted to the 3D hologram design of the island and multiple points were highlighted.

"Apparently, they also have got an underground runway used by small crafts and medium-sized transporters."

"The satellite's images are also showing the Insurgents have set up quite a number of defense guns all over the island. Triple-A and SAM sites. They also have pillboxes and bunkers."

"Don't worry, the Tomahawks will soften them up first."

"Wild Badgers, Dachshund platoon along with 422nd Company will conduct the amphibious assault."

Multiple green arrows appeared on screen, both in air and on land. Each arrow was showing the specific named unit and squadron.

"In the meantime, Mobius team, Esteri team, Green Tails and Omega squadron will neutralize all base's defense capabilities, supporting the advancing ground force."

"We're not expecting enemy's capable air force so we should gain the sky as quickly as it goes. Once you've gained the air superiority, you will move on to the patrol phrase, watching over our boys and girls as they will storm the facilities."

"And we won't go solo on this one. We will have the support from Liberion's 3rd Naval Fleet, along with a detachment from US 6th Marine Division and Fuso's 9th Air Wing coming from the Fuso mainland."

"But we will start the party first without them." A pilot whispered to his mate.

"True that."

"The Liberion will drop their troops as soon as all anti-air emplacements were neutralized." The operator continued.

"Any question you'd like to ask?"

"Uhm...Wouldn't it be bad that we bomb the hell out one of Fuso's islands?" asked a female pilot.

"Do not worry. This is the sanctioned assault under NUN's jurisdiction. The island has been marked as the Exclusive Zone." He answered. "Everything in it is a fair game."

He then waited for any more question, however, silence was what everyone gave to the Operator.

"Destroying this supply base will put a lot of _hurt_ to the operating insurgents in Eurasia. This will save lives."

"It will be a hard fight. Be prepared. You're dismissed."

\/ /\ \/

The Empire of Fuso…well, it was the former name.

After the Ulysses Impact Event, Fuso's two major trading cities were obliterated by its fragments, rendering the whole country's economy into a frenzy state.

The mighty Imperial Fuso army was soon crumbled.

The government changed, so did the nation.

From the Empire to the Federation.

When one government has changed its old ruling way, many would glad, hoping a new chance in life, but some didn't quite accept it easily.

One thing for sure, when a nation was...humbled by the other rising powers.

The men with pride and patriotic heart who were no longer accepted their own current government quickly turned themselves into...

Insurgent.

It's a formal term. The media simply called them as…rebels. Warmongers. Terrorists.

The reason to fight was varied.

At the end of it, people got hurt. Always.

Beside adding the Liberion in fighting the Erusea. Neo United Nation's ARRF (Allied Rapid Reaction Forces) was also a peacekeeping force. If there's any threat to the allied nation's peace and stability, they'll be the first one to go in.

\/ /\ \/

Usually in war movies or video games, the take-off sequence is a must-have scene in every single one of them. However, what about the prior scene before that? The preparation scene?

Well, they often don't show it. Perhaps it was deleted for the length of the show.

Anyway, what was happening before me is like a rush hour or booming hour for the commercial facilities. Customers came in relentlessly with all kind of orders.

The quartermasters were giving the instructions to his/her crew with loud volume to the point like shouting.

The chosen aircrafts for the operation were getting armed with various weapons by the hangar crews. Missiles. Bombs. Loading ammo into the cannon.

I could tell that each squadron had received their own objective, their own role given how specific weapons like air-to-ground missiles or guided bombs were being loaded onto their plane.

Seeing this sure tickled my military geek sense.

I pulled out my old school camera which used film instead of digital and started taking the pictures.

I knew that the pictures I took would be sensitive and sooner or later they would be confiscated by the MP. Well, it better to do it than standing around like a statue.

A picture is worth a thousand words. So they said. I might be an optimist, but I do hope that I would able to use them when this war is ended.

I shifted my location, approaching to my favorite team, the Mobius team.

And here, Mobius 1 had a new plane for himself.

F-14 Tomcat, the fourth-generation jet fighter. Twin-tail. Swing wing. There're many movies and video games made about it back in the 80s and 90s.

"Now that's a beauty." I muttered to myself, hitting the shuttle button rapidly.

"The F-14D Super Tomcat." The silver-haired friendly pilot spoke up as he approached to me. His sister was also with him.

"Look like you've found your love there." Mobius 1 said, chuckling.

I guessed my intensive photo shooting gave away.

"I love its design." I confessed.

"Good. Consider this is your lucky day, journalist. 'Cause you're gonna ride with me."

"Wow...I'm honored."

"Dragging civilian into the battle is some sort of your sadist hobby now, brother?" The silver-haired girl said.

"Hey, now. That would lead too much misunderstanding." Mobius 1 placed his hand on his sister's head, messing her hair up.

I believed that I was pretty much 'embedded' at this point.

"Besides, what good a journalist would do if he doesn't get to see thing with his own eyes?"

"Hmm...true..." His sister agreed, fixing her hair back to its original state.

For a moment there, I saw another...unreadable expression of Mobius 2.

Hopefully, in time, I may learn more about her.

"Uhm...your Striker Unit. Do you also change it into...a F-14 model?" I asked Mobius 2.

She chuckled before she answered. "No, just go with my good old partner."

"You'll participate in this...bombing operation?"

"Only as air support." She answered, shifting her blue eyes from the aircraft to the guided bombs which were lying sill on the cart.

"We Witches never have that much firepower to destroy some facilities."

"Truly? I assumed that Witches had done many incredible things by taking down those Behemoth or Titan-sized Neuroi back in the war."

"Fighting Neuroi is entirely different than fighting a whole military base armed with SAM or AA guns." She frowned.

"Then again, if you're putting it that way...then maybe...but I'm not a heavy hitter." Mobius 2 paused for a moment. "Perhaps, those Tank Witches ca—"

Immediately, without a warning, Mobius 2's head got…'chopped' by a knife hand from behind.

"Oi-Oi! Don't go making us like some _brutes_!" The attacker was a red-haired twin-tailed girl dressed in a standard ARRF uniform and black spats. Behind her was a group of three, one was a blonde, a dark-haired and a one with purple-colored hair.

Mobius 2 silently showed her pained expression by placing her hand on the hit area, but she remained collected as she turned to them.

"…It's a compliment."

"Yeah, and I'm not buying it. You, on the other hand, should be called as such. Going on solo, on a night mission no less."

"Thank you for your compliment." She bowed her head.

"Don't be sarcastic!"

"I'll give you ladies some privacy." Mobius 1 swiftly bid his farewell.

"He ran away." Mobius 2 sounded annoyed.

"You really ought to consider how your brother feels."

"If you want to date my brother, then I ca—"

"Waaahh! Don't listen to her! She is delusional!" The girl's face promptly turned redder than her hair.

The twin-tailed girl tried to throw herself into the silver-haired out of impulsive, but Mobius 2 skillfully invaded her attack without breaking a sweat.

"I'll go get prep." Mobius 2 decided to escape from the group as well. However, there's someone prevented her from doing so by…putting her head right in between the…fun bags.

"Ara-ara. Why the rush, little birdy?"

She was a...beautiful, gorgeous-looking woman with a golden hair which was reaching about her shoulders. Despite she is already in her flight suit, she's still giving off a…certain charm. Like a...model, slender, well-proportioned and all that.

She continued teasing Mobius 2 by pressing her head deeper into her chest.

"...ah, this feels nice..." She was actually enjoying it. "Hard to breathe though..."

"You. Let go of her!" The red-haired girl quickly grabbed Mobius 2's collar and put her back in her place. "How shameless."

"I wish that were me though." The blonde said with a carefree tone.

"Fufufu." The female pilot giggled.

Our eyes soon met.

"Uhm, h-hello..." My mind somehow turned blank. "Miss..."

"Call me Archer. It's my call sign." The pilot showed a faint smile, yet it's quite seductive, like a flower charming the bees.

"Oh? Of course."

"Be safe out there, all of you. Don't try to be a hero." The woman gave the words like a mother to her children.

""Yes, we will be careful!""

As soon as the female pilot bid her farewell, there was a pair of young girls walking passed by us. Like Mobius 2 and the other fours, they're Witches as well.

The leading one was a young...noble girl. Judging from the way she walked with pride and confident, carrying a certain aura, not to mention her beautiful golden hair was braided and tied into a bun. The other was a brown-skinned girl bearing a similar aura like the former, fair hair, wore her hair into twin buns.

"Mobius 2."

"Ice Tea. Coffee." She greeted back, keeping her neutral expression.

"…Habanero." The girl, who was called Ice Tea, greeted the red-haired.

"Don't call me that!"

After the exchange, the pair continued walking to their own destination.

I noticed in the distance that Archer, the female pilot received friendly greeting from other pilots and the salute from the hangar crew.

"She is young." I noted to myself.

"You're talking about Archer, right?" Mobius 2 asked, sounding worried.

Wait, what?

"What? You don't know who she is?" The twin-tailed exclaimed.

"W-well actually, I do!"

Sigfrid Akerman. She was a former Witch ten years ago. Even when her magic was gone, she continued her service in the Baltland air force. I heard that she is quite a popular figure among the young Witches. She's also a poster girl for the armed forces with her charisma and sex appeal.

"She must be your role model, right?" I asked them.

"Ahaha. W-well, you could say that." The twin-tailed Witch massaged her head, feeling embarrassed.

"Mine is Erica Hartmann." Mobius 2 revealed.

"The Karlsland's greatest ace back in the Second Neuroi War." I nodded.

"Oh please, a girl like _you_? Erica Hartmann is an amazing and hard-working person. She doesn't lazy around, or sleeping all the time like you." After she berated the poor Mobius 2, she then turned back to me.

"Since you're a journalist, you must be dying wanting to know who we are, right?"

"Well…yes, I do." Not the dying part though.

"Glad you ask!" The girl liked that. Then quickly, like they have trained this maneuver for many times.

"Rico!" The twin-tailed declared, putting both hands on her waist.

"Violet!" said the girl with long, purple-colored hair, putting up a karate-like pose while taking on the left position.

"Blake." said the dark-haired girl who had a long bang, covering her eyes. She did the same pose while taking on the right side.

"Amber!" announced the short-haired blonde witch with a pair ribbon, taking the center position while extending both of her arms out like wings.

"""We are…the Wild Badgers!"""

They put up a pose like...a team of heroes with mechanized beast without a hinch.

"Good thing I didn't grow up with that." Mobius 2 deadpanned low enough for me to hear.

"…Badger. Did the military issued the name or you came up by yourself?" I inquired.

"Actually, we Witches had a choice in choosing our platoon name." Rico replied.

"It's nice of them to give us that luxury." Blake said.

"And I assume that the name is made by..."

"Yours truly!" The twin-tailed exclaimed.

I guessed that's her familiar?

"I still prefer the Rabbit though." said the Violet. "Killer Rabbit..."

"And I love the ponies." Blake said.

"For the last time! Don't bring your taste of hobby into the military!" Rico reminded them.

"But the badger is your pet and it's your familiar…" Violet complained.

Call it!

"You idiot! That's supposed to be classified!"

The leader attacked Violet as she tried to...break her bone was applying the pressure.

"Waah-hah!"

"Say cheese." Having no hesitation, I took the picture.

Rico was dumbfounded as the other girls awkwardly put up their teeth smile while doing whatever pose they could. In the background, the Ribbon Witch still showed her impassive expression like a doll.

\/ /\ \/

After settling down with the Wild Badgers, Mobius 2 was finally able to prep her gears.

True to her words, she still went for her usual Striker, F-4 model. I guessed it's her best partner out there.

Instead of choosing the usual machine gun, she replaced it with a rocket launcher called Panzerfaust 3, A Karlsland-made recoilless anti-tank weapon.

She then put a lot of warheads into her tactical backpack. _Lots_ of them, as much as she could carry.

A Witch with a rocket launcher versus fighter jets...

If she managed to kill a jet with that…well, video games were a good source of inspiration.

Not for violence, but it's still a debatable subject.

While I was occupying with my own thought, I failed to notice a certain male pilot bearing a dark spiky hair, who put an arm around my neck as he said this.

"Oi mate. I have a question for ya."

"Wh-what is it?"

"Have you ever met a Fuso Witch?"

"...Not face to face, why?"

"I'm curious about their uniform." The pilot answered. "I always saw them dress like temple's maidens."

"The Ki…Kimono thing, right?" I made a guess.

"No, it's not Kimono…it's similar."

"Ah! It's _Miko_ , the clothing for the shrine maiden." I finally remembered it.

"That's right! That's right! You got that right, mate."

"Judging from your accent, you're from Britania?"

"Ah yes, name is Omega 11." The handsome pilot introduced, showing his confident teeth smile.

"But seeing them in tactical vest like Ribbon Princess here would be cool enough. Can't wait to see them in battle."

"You fool. It's not about those tactical clothes or Miko thing." A squad mate of his declared. "It's Seifuku (sailor suit schoolgirl uniform)!"

"…"

"…"

Immediately, handshake was made.

"I see you're a man of culture as well."

"You're one of us!"

"We're brothers of culture."

"...what are they doing?" Mobius 2 and other female personnel looked at the group with a puzzled face.

...

...

I checked back with the Wild Badger who had finished the gear prepping.

With the Land Battle Striker, they all stood tall about 3 meters, taller than most basketball players. I could see why they're often called Tank Witches. However, the official designation for them would be: Land Battle Witches.

From my first impression, they're more like mechanized infantries. Violet and Blake carried assault rifle with a grenade launcher attachment. Amber had some portable anti-tank weapons and bazooka attached onto the back of Striker Unit.

Rico, was the heavy…duty Witch, alright. She carried a certain rifled hand cannon, long about 2 meters, a mini-sized version from the main battle tank's ordnance. Along with her primary weapon was the M2 heavy machine gun placed on the Striker's port.

Despite their animal ears and tail were quite out of place, the girls have armed themselves to the teeth.

"Let's rock the world, ladies!" Rico stirred up her platoon's spirit.

""" **Oohhh! ! !** """

The Tank Witches then moved to the elevator which they would descend down to the well deck where amphibious vehicles were waiting to be deployed.

\/ /\ \/

Standing by the balcony of the carrier control tower was the Captain of Mirai. She was a young beautiful woman in her twenties with chestnut brown, bob cut style with an X-shaped blue ornament like a ribbon strapped in a lock of her hair, and the most attractive charm about her was her two different colored eyes, the left silver eye and the right blue eye.

Her body was slender but the sexiness of her can be shown behind the service dress white accompanied with a fur collar coat which she wore it over her shoulders like a cape with chain buttons. A pair of white gloves was the addition to against the cold air.

Truth to be told that she was more fitted in a fashion role model rather a commanding officer, however, such words were never mentioned on this vessel.

Piercing through the distance fog with the binocular's lens, the Captain has spotted several vessels traveling on the same water. One of them was bearing an iconic shape of an aircraft carrier. Fortunately, they're affiliated to US Navy.

"Arrive on time." She muttered to herself.

"Commodore. Incoming message from the Kestrel." A petty officer reported.

The Commodore quickly re-entered back into the tower and placed herself on the command seat. The screen before her eyes came alive.

"Good morning, Captain Andersen." She greeted.

« And good morning to you too, Commodore Hayate. » The old veteran captain bearing a gray mustache gave a smile while bowing to her briefly.

\/ /\ \/

« Mobius Team. You're clear for take off. » Mirai's carrier controller announced as soon as the Green Tail squadron has launched away successfully.

« Gentlemen first. » The blue-ribbon Witch said.

« Why thank you, _madam_. » The pilot accepted it happily as his fighter launched away like a bullet.

The Witch quietly shook her head out of her brother's childish attitude before she followed suit.

« Altitude restriction is lifted. Good luck out there, Mobius team. »

...

* * *

 **MISSION 2**

 **SANCTIONED ASSAULT**

 **0907hrs. August 17th, 2019**

 **Exclusive Zone / / 25° 48' 6'' N 131° 16' 7'' W**

 **Cloud Cover: None**

 **Operation Name: Scooping**

\/ /\ \/

Dassault Rafale.

F-4.

F-14.

They're the aircrafts I identified from where I were sitting in the backseat of F-14.

Each squadron was bearing their own distinctive color and marking.

Green Tails, it was easy to guess that they had their plane's tails painted in such said color, but it went with a duo color of green and white.

Omega. Their emblem was such, but it's got turned upside down, looking like a harp instrument, along with a trident or...arrows in the back ground, like their ARRF symbol.

There're Mobius 2 and other two girls that I've met earlier were flying side by side.

Below us…while I can't see it, but at least I knew that 108th ground force was making fast advance with their amphibious vehicles.

« Attention all units. » Sky Eye spoke up.

« Incoming friendlies from the USS Kestrel. They are called Warwolf Squadron. »

Soon the said squadron consisted of F/A-18Es joined in.

« This is Warwolf 1 to Sky Eye. Thank you for having us. » A male mature voice carried both experience and charisma transmitted through out the channel.

« The honor is ours. Warwolf 1. Your reputation has preceded you. » Sky Eye responded.

« Yours as well. » He humbly replied.

« So you are that Mobius guy we're keep hearing about ya. » Warwolf 1's wingman called out. « Don't look so tough to me. »

« Be nice, Guts. » Warwolf 1 said.

« Relax Colonel. Just breaking the ice. »

« You're friendly. » Mobius 1 said.

« And you're must be his wingman. Wing- _woman_ , I mean. A strange pair indeed. »

Mobius 2 silently saluted to them with two-finger style.

« Let's see if you guys are as good as they said. »

« You'll find out if they are soon enough. Everyone will. » Sky Eye put a vote with confident.

« Heh! I'll be the judge of that. » Warwolf 2 remained skeptical.

« Hey, shouldn't you guys be focusing more on the Erusean now? » Omega 11 asked. « Why bother coming here? »

« Just keeping our neighbor safe. » Warwolf 2 replied. « Besides, with that Stonehenge in the way. Things are pretty much in a stalemate. »

« And so began the _stare_ battle between the might Aegir 'Invincible' Fleet versus the US _whatever_ fleet out there in the Atlantic Sea. »

Omega's words earned a few chuckles among his flights, surprisingly, Warwolfs shared the same humor as well.

« There goes the civilian taxes. » Mobius 2 muttered.

« But I heard that you guys are planning some big push, right? » Omega continued.

« Why that— »

« No comment. » Warwolf 1 interjected.

« Attention all planes. The landing operation is about to start. » Sky Eye radioed in.

« We'll commence once the delivery is completed. »

Below Mobius 2's altitude, she could see a number of certain fast-moving objects, leaving trails of white as they go.

They're Tomahawks, the long-range, all-weather, jet-powered, subsonic cruise missiles that were launched from US destroyers.

« There they go. »

« Ohaiyou! (Good morning!) Suckers! » Omega 11 said.

« Impact. In three...two... » Sky Eye made the count down.

« And sayonara! (goodbye!) »

« ...One. Impact! »

The aviation force could see the entire island was literally shook from the missile strikes.

« All units! Commence the operation! »

Following Sky Eye's radioed voice, all flights swiftly descended into the fray of battle. The still-looking green and yellow island came alight as multiple explosions were erupting.

« Wake up, you idiots! Wake up! We're un*static*attack! »

The distress voice of an insurgent calling out frantically was picked up thanks to the electronic warfare.

« Target locked. »

By the time the alarm was raised. It's too late for them.

« Bomb away! »

Bombs released from the plane's torso as it was dived down in a crazy speed, not in free fall, but with a radar guidance system. The hit was 100% accurate.

« AA gun destroyed. »

« SAM destroyed. »

One by one, Sky Eye listed out multiple surface targets were destroyed. The initial attack went off well.

« Like fishing in a barrel! » Omega 11 shouted out in glee.

« Looks like they're starting to wake up. » Green Tails 1 said.

« I'm picking up the triple-A's signal. »

Muzzle flashes emitted, spouting lines and lines of tracers, tearing up the sky.

« Look out, Omega 11! It's trying to get a lock on you. »

« Oh no, you don't. I'm not swimming back to the ship this time. »

...

...

Enduring through the storm of bullets and mortar shells smashing the water, the Landing Craft Air Cushions carrying attack force had finally reached the shoreline.

"Shield up!" Badger 1 gave the command.

She and her platoon promptly put up the round-shaped glowing shield.

"Let's crush these rebels! Attack!"

As soon as the LCAC's frontal door was lowered, they advanced with rapid speed, charging at the island's defenders.

« Stay close formation! » radioed Dachshund 1, tank commander of the main battle tank Challenger 2. The tanks rolled out of the LCAC, firing the main gun and coaxial guns at the same time.

The Witches enclosed themselves, forming out a certain Tortoise-like formation with magic shields deflecting all sort of incoming projectiles at ease, both large calibers and rockets.

The Witches are formidable. It was a certain knowledge that had imprinted on everyone mind. After all, they're the hailed heroines who destroyed Neuroi, the enemy of mankind.

Still, with that being said, the rebel who manned the heavy machine gun continued firing stubbornly.

"Shi-ne! Shi-ne! Shi-ne! (Die! Die! Die!)" He cried out with rage.

However, the rebel's fighting spirit was soon snuffed out instantly by an explosive rocket fired from the Ribbon Witch.

The defenders frantically shifted their gun barrel to the flying target above, however, their effort was undone by grenades dropping and suppressing fire from Mobius 2.

« They're shelling our position with mortars. Push forward! » Dachshund 1 urged the ground force to get out of the strike zone.

« Go for big! » The commanding officer of 422nd screamed out the motto.

…

…

As soon as the mortar shell was fired away, a fresh one was inserted into the mortar.

"Keep them pin down! Our reinforcement is on th—"

The encouraging words from the rebel were cut off abruptly, the mortar loader looked back to see what's wrong, only to see the man's entire head got blown away.

Before any reaction was made, the man received the same fate as his whole body was torn opened. His bones and internal organs were crushed instantly by some sort of an invisible punch.

Following the rebels' death, the 81mm mortar was reduced to scrap metals by a projectile. It was not done by a Tank Witch or any Marine in combat.

Far away from the occurring battle, two Witches maintained their fixed position at a low altitude in a manner like helicopters. They're the Esteri team, and they're conducting the long-range support by sniping.

Each equipped a .50 BMG rifle. They're nothing more than spelling the word: 'H-U-R-T'.

"Enemy mortar is neutralized." Esteri 2 aka. Coffee reported.

"Onto the next one. Follow my shot, Coffee." Esteri 1 aka. Ice Tea said as her glowing blue eyes locked onto a new target hidden itself behind a bush on the island.

Following AS50's recoil, M82A2 did the same.

Usually, in a manner of physic and ballistic, the sniper would have done quite a calculation before they could have hit the target within 1800-2400 meters.

However, this was done by 2800 meters. Both girls squeezed the trigger while their scope crosshair was pointing directly at the marked targets. If someone fired like that, the projectile would simply be pulled down by the gravity and missed the target terribly.

Yet, both of their fired calibers continued traveling on the path at ease, without suffering the gravity or a wind blow.

The answer? Magic!

Looking through the scope, another mortar team was decimated in seconds after the trigger was pulled.

Thanks to Esteri 2's ballistic enhancement along with Esteri 1's magic eye providing accuracy, the cartridge traveled all the way from the weapon's muzzle to the target.

Enemy mortar and machinegun teams were destroyed before they could get their chance of attacking the 108th Ground Task Force.

…

…

"Boy, I thought this is just some simple island, but they got one hell of a base!" Badger 2 aka. Amber commented as she's spotting some concrete structures.

The assault force continued their advance smoothly thanks to the effective air supports.

« I'm more interested of how the hell they could built this from the bottom and keep this hidden for long. » said one of Dachshunds.

« Missile! Break! »

« Yahhoo! Another SAM added to my kill list. » Guts exclaimed.

"I'm picking up some heat signature is rising beneath the island's surface." Badger 3 aka. Violet reported with her magic sensor reading.

All of sudden, the assault force felt the earth was somewhat…vibrating. Then they all saw a number of fighters had launched themselves up into the air.

« Enemy aircrafts! They're launching from the island! » Dachshund 1 reported to the situation to Sky Eye. « You've got MiG 21s coming to you. »

"So they really do have an underground runway." said Badger 1.

« I don't have visual on that runway from here. » Green Tail 1 said. « We'll need our ground force to take it out. »

« Wild Badgers and Dachshund platoon. I've marked the target's location on your map. » Sky Eye sent the data. « Destroy its exit so there wouldn't be any reinforcement or escapee. »

"Roger. We'll take care of it!" Badger 1 replied with confident before she turned to her platoon. "Let's roll, ladies!"

« Guess we're the ladies now. » One of the male combatants joked.

...

...

« Warwolf 2 destroyed a technical. » Sky Eye reported.

« Like shooting tin cans in my dad's backyard. » Warwolf 2 said, searching new target on radar.

« Stay focus, Guts. » Warwolf 1 called out.

« Hehe, roger. »

Even with the battle was in their favour, Warwolf 1 couldn't afford any of his squadron member to be slacked off.

War is sweet to those who haven't taste it.

Many tended to romanticized the idea. War was something, a certain darkness to overcome, to triumph.

War...was an attraction.

Something for you to look at without a feel of danger, only a sense of thrill or pity for the characters in it.

But when you're _actually_ sitting in the middle of it.

This was not really the case.

Muzzled explosions.

My rapid breathing through the mask.

My bounding heart was the loudest thing I could hear inside the cockpit.

« This is Mobius 1. I'm starting my bombing run. » The pilot sitting in front of me spoke up.

Soon I felt lightheaded as we descended down straight toward the ground like a roller coaster.

I shifted my eyes to my left side, hoping I would feel better, however, with that action, I've spotted an enemy MiG 21 was tailing right behind.

"Th-there is a bandit right behind us!" I screamed out.

« We have started the bombing run sequence. We can't pull out. »

So, this is it? I thought.

Silently, I pulled out my camera and pointed at the flying MiG and pressing my shutter button multiple times. Right before the Death who was about to swing his scythe...

...And before the death got dismissed by something else.

The MiG 21 was struck by a round of bullets, disrupting his missile lock-on on us. He tried to pulled away but in vain as Mobius 2 already fired a missile from her Striker Unit, sending him off to meet his Maker.

« Your six is clear, Mobius 1. » Mobius 2 reported.

The silver-haired pilot didn't respond as he still focused on the target.

The trigger pressed. The payload released.

« Mobius 1 destroyed the surface target. »

« Woh-hoo! Good going! » A friendly fighter cheered.

« Whoa. These guys are pretty good! » Warwolf 2 finally admitted.

« Mobius 2. Continue to neutralize the island's air defense. » Sky Eye gave the instruction.

« Copy. »

The rebel fighters were quickly dropping like flies.

« MiG destroyed. » Warwolf 1 reported once his missile struck the target, sending the burning wreckage down to the ocean.

« Good going, Colonel. » Warwolf 3 congratulated.

...

...

« This is Fencer. I've got the target in my sight. » A female pilot known as Green Tail 2 said to her flight lead. « I'm going for it. »

« Copy, I've got your six. » Green Tail 1 said.

The green-colored tails Dassault Rafale dived down toward the island.

Once reaching down to a suitable altitude to drop release her payload, Green Tails 1 called out all of sudden.

« Watch out! AA! Pull up! Pull up! »

Concealed behind the camouflage blanket, the 20mm gun roared, spouting flash after flash, tearing through the air with projectiles violently.

Fencer swiftly banked her wings as she was pulling her plane's nose up in order to avoid the tracers.

She felt her plane took a few hits. However, after a quick checkup on her system, her plane was still operational. No need to return back just yet.

« You alright there, Fencer? Look likes you've got a hole on your left wing. » Omega 11 said.

« Keep on with that joke, I'll put an arrow to your knee. » She responded with an annoyed tongue.

« Stay focus! » Sky Eye called in. « The enemy still haven't given up just yet. »

« Keep firing on those planes! Intensified forward firepower! » A rebel's voice was picked up in the channel.

The surrounding AA emplacements brought the whole sky ablaze with tracers after tracers.

« Ah hell! This is getting too much. » Warwolf 2 made a frustrated sigh. He then noticed something was on his canopy, a little dot.

It was soon that he learned the little dot was a F-14, blending itself in the bright sun, had swooped down passing him like a hawk, firing its missiles. Then ascended upward in a perfect arc. Not a moment too soon, AA turrets were destroyed.

« AA guns destroyed by Mobius 1. » Sky Eye continued to report.

« Mobius 1 again?! » Warwolf 2 blurted out of disbelief.

« Warwolf 2, it looks like we're running out of targets. » Warwolf 1 said. « Let's pick up the pace shall we? »

« Right with you, Colonel. »

…

…

With another _boom!_ went off violently, sending a technical flying upward for a few meters before it landed back to the earth. The remaining insurgent force pathetically retreated back into their concrete structure, allowing Wild Badgers, Dachshunds along with of 422nd Marines successfully storming their base where the underground airstrip was located.

Wasting no more time, Badger 1 aimed her main ordnance up-high toward the cave's mouth. The other Badgers did as well. All loaded with their high explosive round.

"Eat lead!" Riko cried out powerfully as the weapons opened fire.

Direct hit. The nature could not withstand such firepower as the cave-in promptly occurred, trapping the remaining grounded MiGs and rebels inside it.

"We have blocked the exit! The runway is disable!" Amber reported.

« Well done, Wild Badgers. » Green Tails 1 congratulated.

…

…

« Mobius 1. Gun. Gun. » The cannon roared, discharging round after round in a matter of seconds. The projectiles landed on the target as they tearing through the material mercilessly until one of the rounds hit dead on the missile's warhead, triggering the explosion.

« The last SAM site is neutralized, good job Mobius 1. » Sky Eye said. « We have gained the air superiority. »

« Damn! I thought I'd got that. » Warwolf 2 groaned.

« I've got some blips on my radar. » Omega 2 reported in.

« Yeah, mine as well. » Green Tails 2 said. « They're responding to IFF. »

« Allies? »

« Right on the schedule. » Warwolf 1 said in a neutral voice.

« Attention all planes. Incoming reinforcement. It's the 6th Division's detachment. » Sky Eye informed.

In the distance, a familiar shape of gigantic transporter called Galaxy was coming in hot with its rear door already opened.

« This is Papa Duck 1 to Sky Eye. Thanks for cleaning the road for us. We are dropping our customers now. » The Galaxy's pilot radioed in. « And they have a long list to complain. »

Below the flying Galaxy C5, close to sea's surface was a number of V-22 Ospreys carrying Marines were heading toward the island.

Both kind of transportation soon made a fast-dropping/fast-roping into the battle.

The vacant rough part of the island was soon filled with M1 Abrams, the US Liberion main battle tanks along boots of the fighting 6th Marines.

« Let's bring the pain, Marines! »

« Hooah! »

« War Hogs are en route. »

« Rattlesnakes are right behind you! »

« This is Echelon Actual to all units. Take out those remaining batteries! » A voice of a colored commanding officer radioed to his unit.

« Copy. Actual. »

« We've got BTRs and technicals! Take them out. »

…

…

Standing by the recently-captured air base, the ARRF started to hear gunfire and explosions occurred in the woods where the US force has landed.

"The Liberions sure know how to make an entrance." Badger 1 commented.

« Shock and Awe, mate. » Dachshund 2 said. « Shock and Awe. »

« Wild Badgers. This is Sky Eye. You're to assist an allied unit called Echelon located on the north side of the island. »

"Will do."

« Dachshund platoon will hold position, secure the runway. 422nd Company will start sweeping out the remaining rebels who are still resisting. »

« Affirmative. »

« Copy your last, Sky Eye. »

…

…

The island battle has taken a second phrase, the rebel had regrouped and start making the counter-attack, in hope to drive the invaders back to the sea.

"They're raining down hell on us with RPG! Where the hell they get that much firepower?!"

"This is Echelon. We need air support!"

« Message received, Echelon. We're coming in hot. »

"Ramirez, pop smoke. Let them know where we are."

The named Private silently complied. With the man's bold and bravery action, the smoke grenade was tossed into the enemy defend line.

Death from above was occurred. Multiple machine nests were destroyed. It brought out ecstatic cheers from the fighting Marines.

Once the dust was settled, the Marines noticed a new arrival.

"Look over there!"

"They're Witches!"

With the girls' arrival, the enemy defend line was quickly abandoned.

"This is Badger 1 to Echelon, we're here give you the support." Rico reported to a Marine officer.

« Much appreciate it, N-U-N witches, but we can take it from here. » A US tank commander said. « Let the big boys do the heavy works. »

"We're under N-U-N jurisdiction. You don't have the right to boss us around!"

Despite they're on the same side, the rivalry was still at large.

« Green tails 1 has used up all special weapons. » Sky Eye confirmed after Green Tails 1 had used them to destroyed multiple grounded targets.

« This is our cue then. We'll return back to Mirai to rearm and refuel. »

…

…

"It seemed that we won't get much action from where we are." Ice Tea said.

The two Witches were still standing by above the water.

"Should we request to get in closer?" Coffee suggested.

"Hmm, I think we should…Hey, what's that?"

Coffee followed Ice Tea's facing direction. She saw something was moving above the water.

"Something is fast approaching."

"This is Esteri 1 to Sky Eye. I have visual on multiple bogeys coming from vector 3-8-0. Do you see them on radar?"

« …that's a negative, Ice Tea. How many do you see them? »

"They're flying low altitude right above the water." Esteri 2 reported. "Your radar can't pick them up."

"…They're drones! There's at least a dozen of them!" Esteri 1 declared.

« Intercept them, Esteri team! »

The Witches aimed their weapon toward the flying drone opened fire.

Both shots were well-aimed, however, when the bullets were about to get close to them, the drones suddenly took a swift turn toward one side and then back to the originated flight path.

"Missed!?" Esteri 2 exclaimed.

"No. Those drones have _evaded_ our shots!" Esteri 1 confirmed with her magic-enhanced eyes. "Keep firing at them."

With a rapid fire from two marksmen, only one drone was struck and smashed into the sea.

"They're fast!" Coffee exclaimed.

The shooting increased, but with a limited number of cartridges in one magazine. The Witches were unable to stop the fast-coming swarm.

Before they could load a new magazine into the rifle, the drones began to attack the Witches with missiles.

"Deploy shield!"

The two Witches quickly deployed their rounded magical shield. Once the missiles exploded upon the impact, the Esteri team had no time to catch a break as the drones were attacking them with their auto-cannon.

The Witches could only put up their shield as they're helplessly watching the group of dark gray-colored metallic drones flying pass over them. They managed to catch the drone's unique shape which bearing an aerodynamic design with tailless W-wing. Instead with propeller, they're flying with a jet engine.

"This is Esteri 1. The drones have broken through our sector! I say again, we're being over—!"

"Look out!"

Hearing Esteri 2's warning, she was able to avoid the flying drone which was too close for comfort. Then a few seconds later, another one flew passed by, almost collide into her.

"I think they're trying to ram at us!"

"Go. Go! Get out of here!"

The Esteri team detached themselves, allowing the drones charged to the island.

« Attention all units. We have a new situation. Incoming UAVs approaching fast to the island from vector 3-8-0. »

The channel abruptly filled with multiple radioed voices saying at the same time.

« Woah! Where the hell these guys come from?! » Warwolf 2 was astounded.

« Incoming missiles. Evade! » Warwolf 1 gave the warning to his squadron.

« What kind of drone is that!? »

« There're so many of them! »

« They're coming for us. » Green Tails 2 said.

« All available fighters cover the Green Tails' retreat. Intercept those MiGs. » Sky Eye gave a new objective.

« Green Tails 3 and 4. Resume your return course. Fencer and I will hold them off. »

« I'm with you, Archer. » Green Tails 2 responded.

…

…

As soon as her Light Fifty was empty, Coffee switched to the secondary weapon, MP7.

A round of bullets was unleashed onto the drone directly, however, the rounded design of the drone's frontal body was able to deflect most of calibers.

"Its armor is too thick!"

All of sudden, a hail of bullets rained down upon one drone, rendering it to collide into the flying one nearby. Then the two plowed into the third one.

"Wha…"

Like them, she was a Witch, wearing in a certain white and red attire which bore that country's culture.

"Fusoan?"

The short-haired Fuso Witch opened fire her assault rifle, Type 89, a standard weapon for Fuso Ground Defense Forces. At the end of the gun barrel was a 50-centimeter long sword-type bayonet.

Holding it like a spear, her enchanted blade cut through the drone's wing, rendering it to fall in a spiral before it hit the water.

…

…

The tide of battle could change in an instant.

How terrify to see we're having the good advantage, but now, all of sudden, we're back to where we started…or even worse.

To be honest I thought this was a simple bombing mission.

Then again, simple always invited complications.

« These guys are moving like flies. I can't get a lock-on. » Omega 11 was frustrated.

« They look similar to the ones I shot down the other night. » Mobius 2 shared her information.

« That's quite informative, sis. But we're not exactly having two hands out in the air to bash those drones like baseball, like you did with your machinegun. » Her brother said.

« She actually did _what_? » Warwolf 2 couldn't help but asked.

« They're fast, but I noticed that these drones would reduce their speed when they're turning. Perhaps you can perform the High-G turn to take them out. » Mobius 2 shared her idea.

« Easier said than done! » Omega 11 said.

« You can sit this one out then. » Warwolf 2 said.

« Let's do it, Guts. »

« With you, Colonel. »

As I was trying to take pictures of those agile flying drones, Mobius 1 said to me.

« You still remember the trick I've taught you? »

"Ye-Yeah, I'll manage. J-just go wild!" I couldn't let him to be held back because of me.

« Much obliged. »

I then began to feel the G-force.

Clenching my teeth, I breathed in and out. It's technique to keep my blood not getting rush into my head, otherwise I would get a black out.

He tackled onto one drone. It was fast, very fast. If I was a pilot, I don't think I would be able to keep up with it.

But he did.

Mobius 1 pulled High-G turn by putting his whole plane toward the right side, vertically. He then decelerated his speed. This would surely make his engine stall, but none of that matter as a UAV had entered in within our sight.

His cannon roared.

The drone was torn in pieces by the projectiles and then it's coming down in smoke and flame.

« UAV is shot down. » Mobius 1 reported.

« Alright! » The allied cheered out.

« Those were some fancy move. Now take out the rest like that. »

« I've got more blips on my radar. And I don't think they're drones. » Warwolf 3 radioed in.

« Enemy reinforcement! Seven bogeys. » Warwolf 1 confirmed visually.

« This is becoming a hot mess! » Omega 11 cried out.

« Damn. Where the hell these guys come from? »

The enemy fighter squadron began the interception onto the circling Warwolf squadron. However, they immediately broke off the formation when they spotted blips on the radar.

« This is 305th tactical fighter squadron, 9th Air Wing of Fuso Air Defense Force. Call sign: Goblin » A male reported in with a Fusoan accent. « We hope we're not late for the party. »

« You've arrived just in time. Good to have you, Goblin squadron. Please assist the Warwolf and Omega squadron. »

« Wilco. We'll drive these pests out of our home yard. »

The squadron consisted of five F-15Js assumed the attack formation and charged into the battle.

…

…

« Missile. Missile. Missile. »

The A.I voice said the word repeatedly like a certain mantra. However, Green Tails 2 paid no heed to it as she was trying shake away the pursuing drone on her tail.

« I got a bogey on my tail. I can't shake him! »

« It's firing! Flare now! » Green Tails 1 cried out.

She deployed flare, fooling the heat-seeking missile.

« Shit! It's still onto me! »

« Green Tails 2. » Mobius 2 called in. « On my signal, make a hard dive in three…two… »

Before Fencer could reply a word, she saw the Witch with a blue ribbon was approaching directly toward her.

« WWoo-Ooohhhshit! ! » She immediately put her stick forward all the way, diving her nose down.

In that moment, the drone shifted to a new approaching target. It soon registered that target was a Witch wearing a blue ribbon and she was aiming at him with a…Panzerfaust 3?

The Ribbon Witch fired the weapon.

The warhead immediately struck dead on, rendering the destroyed drone to spin crazily in air as it was burning in flame and parts were coming off in pieces.

"Got him." The Ribbon Witch reported.

« Mobius 2. That was _way_ too close for comfort! Give me a better warning next time! »

« That was wild, little birdy, thanks for saving my wingman. » GreenTails 1 said.

"RPG jet…drone kill. Now I've seen everything…" I muttered to myself.

« Damn, that ribbon girl is something too. Seem kinda cold though. »

« Focus on your own plate, Guts. Stop staring at them. » Warwolf 1 put his wingman back in line as he initiated the dogfight with an enemy MiG.

« MiG 25? These rebels sure have got themselves good sponsors. They never seemed to run out of money or weapons. »

…

…

"What the hell, they're coming in like a swarm of bees." Riko showed a worried face as she looked upward to the ongoing air battle.

"H-hey, you hear something?" A US Marine asked.

"Something is coming." Violet said, feeling the ground was shaking.

Soon, thick bushes were flattened by an armoured vehicle with tracks. Before any Marine or Witch could use their special weapon to destroy the target. A cry of terror promptly changed their mind.

" ** _SHILKA!_** "

It's the name of an armored Orussia self-propelled, radar guided anti-aircraft weapon system.

Originally designed as a mobile anti-air battery, but that didn't stop from becoming an anti-personnel gun as well. This weapon was more devastating than their .50 BMG.

Rico was quick with her hands as she steadied her cannon, aiming at Shilka and pulled the trigger.

...

Nothing happened.

It was a misfire!

How could this have happened?! Perhaps a lucky rock or sand got into the gun chamber, rendering the firing pin did not reach bottom end of the shell. Or the perhaps the maintenance was bad, after all, Witch's weapon was a delicate and complex tool. Still, whatever the reason was, the situation had turned FURBAR.

Once the Captain noticed Rico's weapon was malfunctioned, he quickly called out to his men.

"Move! Move! Move to cover! Get behind that pillbox!"

With a trained mind, every combatant bolted for whatever solid cover right nearby. A still-burning wreckage, concrete pillbox, or even craters.

Everyone managed to dig in. _Almost_ everyone.

"Ah shit. Carl!" A Marine cried out the Private's name once he realized the poor kid has fell himself on the ground due to bad footing. And out of all places, he had to fell right before the metal beast which was looking straight at him with its 4 metal barrels.

It was at this moment Carl knew...He fucked up.

 _Oh fuck!_

"Not on myy _yy_ _wATCH **HHHHHH! !**_ "

Rico, the red-haired with her temper, tossed her main weapon aside and she charged in. She courageously put herself right between the marine and the scythe of death. The moment she deployed her shield, it was when a hundred, if not, a thousand of hammer-like strikes kept hammering on Rico's shield.

Like the hammer striking on an anvil. Ear-deafening.

It was a desperate move. And frankly, Rico's magic was already at the exhausted state.

 _Oh no! At this rate!_

Just when she braced the worse to come.

Something then happened.

The monster was exploded, scattering its part all around.

They had been saved.

By a strike from the heaven, smiting the evil.

Rico for one, she was a Christian.

She thankful for an angel has appeared and smote the evil.

However, to be honest, she would rather prefer a different kind of angel though.

This one was...a sight for her sore eyes. Since it's not a bright smiling angel, but a _sleepy_ one.

What truly transpired in that moment by having another perspective from above is that Mobius 2 has destroyed the ZSU-23-4 by firing her Panzerfaust 3 directly right on top of it, where the armor was the thin.

« Right on, Ribbon Princess! » Omega 11, who had witnessed the act, shouted out in glee.

The Marines started to cheer, thanking the Ribbon Witch.

"You alright?" She asked.

"I didn't ask for help! Amber could take it out."

"Eehhh...not really?" The blonde said, still holding out her bazooka.

"Check your fire. Friendlies coming in at your twelve!"

Marine reinforcement arrived and soon secured the area.

"Cap. I saw a bunch of rebels have gone through this door, sir." A Marine reported the situation.

"Careful! Might be booby-trapped." Captain Foley advised.

"Don't worry, sir. I didn't pick up any electronic device behind that door." Violet reassured them. "It's reinforced, however."

"That simplifies our problem then. Get those charges up here!" A Lieutenant named Moody gave the order.

"No need for that." Rico said.

The twin-tail girl picked up a what-used-to-be cannon barrel. Probably it got detached from the turret by the destruction.

"Fortify." As soon as she said the word, the object in her hands was glowing dimly.

Then...She tossed it in manner like a spear.

Or rather...a hammer. That's what everyone had registered in their mind once the cannon arm had smashed into the reinforced door with the intend to burst it wide open.

An awful banging noise hit everyone's ears, however, the metal door remained still, even though the damage was visible.

"That didn't work." A Marine said.

Rico only clicked her tongue, showing frustrated.

"Then let me try—"

Without a warning, a new presence had descended itself from the on-going air battle.

With the quick look on her gadgets and a Miko-like uniform bearing red and white, she was identified as a Fuso Witch. She wore the white-colored Striker Unit, F-2 model. However, it's strange that her head gadget had covered half of her face with a black metallic visor.

"Doite (Move)." The Witch said.

"Wha…"

Before the assault team could put up any question, the Witch drew out the katana from its scabbard.

"Waaa!"

By someone's yelping, the Marines and Tank Witches promptly removed themselves away from the door.

"Teee-YA!" The blade was swung down along with a powerful war cry.

A second later after the Witch had sheathed her blade, the reinforced door was sliced into 4 pieces.

All were dumbfounded, mouth opened wide that could catch a fly. Except Lt. Moody, who was more or less impressed.

"Huh, that works."

They looked back at the Fuso Witch who gave a brief bowing to them before she ascended back to the sky, resuming the air combat.

"Show off." Rico was not pleased to see another one had taken the spot light.

The Witch swiftly passed by Mobius 2 who still maintained her position.

Hmm, pony tail. The silver-haired took noted.

…

…

The pony-tailed Fuso Witch was soon joined up with a short-haired Witch, who just scored another drone kill with her weapon.

« Attention all units! Incoming more bogeys. They're drones. » Sky Eye updated the situation.

« More?! Where the hell they're coming from? »

« It's like we've struck the beehive or something. » Omega 11 said.

« This is Green Tails 1. I guess the party won't end without us just yet. » Archer joked with her charisma voice. The Green Tails squadron had returned for Round 2.

« Goblin 1 to Raijin. Let's show these terrorists that we Fusoans are not the kind to be trifled with. »

The two Witches promptly charged straight into the swarm. With the short-haired Witch's firing support, the pony-tailed Witch drew out her katana and started slashing everything in her path.

One attack drone was charging at her frontally as it's firing at her with auto-cannon.

She, the pony-tailed Witch deflected all projectiles at ease thanks to her shield. She then put up her katana vertically while her Striker Unit was accelerated, bringing her in faster.

All pilots were bewildered, watching the scene unfolded.

Holding the blade firmly, she cut straight through the flying drone from the very tip of its head to the very end of bottom, rendering the machine was slipped in half and then exploded moment later.

« Holy shet! She just cut through that drone like butter! » Omega 11 exclaimed.

…

…

"Witches…their abilities are so amazing. Healing type. Air bending. Speed. Magic antenna. Magic eye. And now **_this_**!" I mumbled to myself as I kept pressing the shuttle button again and again.

"…And what about Mobius 2." The thought occurred to me. "What's her ability?"

« ...Being _lazy_ , I suppose. » Mobius 1 answered.

"Oh, _pleaseeee_."

…

…

"They're throwing a lot of assets in order to defend their supply base." Captain Anderson said, looking at the developed situation.

"From the look of it, they must be desperate." The XO said.

« I beg to differ. » On the screen was showing the face of Commodore Hayate.

"Commodore."

« I believe that they're trying to keep our force occupied. They're buying time for the evacuation. » She spoke up her theory.

« It is vital that we must learn _what_ the insurgents are actually protecting from us. »

"So we shall." Captain Anderson agreed.

"Contact the destroyers to tighten up the blockage. We will not let any more of those drones getting pass by us."

…

…

"You've got a new objective, Lieutenant. You and your team will secure this underground facility." Captain Foley gave the mission.

"Roger that." The man acknowledged. "What do you think us expect to find down there, sir?"

"Anything that involve with...magic, I suppose." Cap. Foley shrugged. "Just stay safe."

"Will do, sir."

"Another reinforced door." A Marine checked up on the said door.

"Hey kid, want to help out with this one?" Lt. Moody asked Rico, who was happily to comply.

"Fortify!"

Once more, Rico used her enhancing magic ability, strengthening the material of a metal pipe to be sturdier and heavier.

Rico then used it to bash at the metal door, forcing the latter to open instantly.

" ** _Yeah!_** How do you like that!" She yelped and fist pumped.

"Hey..." A Marine whispered to Blake. "You have to scream out like that to activate your ability?"

"Nahh…it's just her style."

…

…

Looking upward to the blue sky was darken with multiple flying aircrafts above and then downward to the ground where the Wild Badgers and US Marines were getting prepared to storm the enemy facility.

In Mobius 2's mind, two choices were presented.

And she picked one.

"This is Mobius 2 to Sky Eye. I'm requesting to be deployed on foot to assist the Wild Badgers."

« Negative, Mobius 2. The air space is still not secure...Hold on... »

There was a brief pause before Sky Eye returned to her.

« Mobius 2, Hexer would like to have a word with you. I'm patching her through. »

« Mobius 2. Your permission is granted. » It's the voice coming from none other than Commodore Hayate, who also acted as the commanding officer of 108th Task Force.

« You are to assist the Wild Badgers and Marines to secure the underground facility. Find out what the insurgent are hiding from us. »

"Roger. Thank you Hexer."

...

...

"Is it alright?" I asked. Rather seeing this was so strange for a first time. A Witch fighting in the air, and then changed to fighting on ground.

« It's fine. She is more badass than me anyway. » Her brother said with confident. « Mobius 1 to Sky Eye. We are returning back to Mirai to resupply. »

« Affirmative. Proceed to the designated vector. »

The air battle was still raging on, fortunately, the situation was slowly returning back to the Allied force's control.

\/ /\ \/

When the time changed, so did the way of fighting and tactics.

Witches were not just solely used as…Witches, but also in term of infantry.

Aerial Infantry. The Witches were classified as such in the military. Specialized fighting in the air and on land.

Whenever the situation required, the Witches can switch between two roles.

And without depending on the Striker Unit was the norm.

"Decided to get some mud on your face, Mobius 2?" Rico asked Mobius 2 who is already exited out of her Striker Unit.

"Just going for a stroll." She replied, loading a new magazine into her battle rifle.

"With bare feet? You're hardcore."

Bearing a design in mind, the Land Battle Striker had an external small box which contained the special all-terrain boots. The Tank Witches were spared from feeling the hardness or spikiness of the earth, and the muddy, yucky type.

"Why are you Witches doing here?" A Marine asked.

"Same as you, we want to know what the insurgents are hiding on this island." Rico answered. "And it'd be best that we will stick with you guys."

"Jeez. Those guys sure can make themselves busy with whatever they have." A couple of Marines nearby talked among themselves.

"That Ribbon Witch is going bare feet though." He looked at Mobius 2's smooth-looking legs.

"Nice legs."

"Cut the chatter, men." A colored Sergeant called out. "We still have some buildings to clear out. Move it!"

"I pick up something...is faint. Beneath there." She pointed at one specific entrance where a team of Marine was gathered nearby.

"Guess we have to ask nicely."

Mobius 2 and Wild Badgers soon joined up with one Marine team led by a Lieutenant named Moody.

"Welcome Witches." Lt. Moody. "Don't _try_ to be the hero. That's my request."

"Yes sir. We can do that." Rico answered, holding her M3 Grease Gun with trigger discipline.

"Good."

The group mixed with Marines and Witches soon tactically infiltrated the underground building.

"Go. Go. Go."

"Move in."

As soon as they descended down the stair, there was little light below.

"It's dark..." Violet said.

"OOohhhoo~" One of the Marines made the iconic ghost sound effect in order to scare off the young girls.

"Cut it out, Johnson! Everyone, switch to night vision."

Night Vision Googles, it was the device attaching on the Marines helmet that the user soon put them on. As for the Witches, they simply tapped lightly on side of the head gadget that they had wore since the beginning. The HUD visor not only provided a good range of vision in the dark, it acted like any normal glasses without suffering the cumbersome weight.

The corridor was narrowed so they have to move in a single file.

They soon arrived to a T-section. LT signaled the point man to take a left.

"Johnson, Sully. You two take right. Take the ladies with you."

"But el-tee…" Pvt. Johnson tried to protest.

"Oh don't worry, big boy. I'll hold your hand."

Rico's words quickly earned good chuckle among the Marines while the man in subject was simply turned red out of embarrassed and angry.

…

…

"Strange. Looking at these structures. This looks like a naval base." Violet commented.

"More like a freaking maze." Johnson said.

The second team made a smooth advancing without meeting any resistance, until their radio came to live.

« Sully, Johnson. We've just hit a dead end. How's your side? »

"It's still stretching all the way down, el-tee. Should we proceed?"

« Negative. Hold position We're coming back to you. »

"Copy. Holding position."

Remembered the training, the Witches and Marines soon knelt down. Amber, Violet and Blake turned to the rear while Rico, Mobius 2 and Marines trained their weapon toward the darkness with trigger discipline.

"Hey, uh..." Sully, the young Marine called out to the silver-haired girl. "Have we uh...met before?"

While Mobius 2 was simply titling her head to one side out of puzzled, his companion was cringed.

"Oh my god, not _that_ pick-up line."

"And she is your type?!" Rico was bewildered.

"What? No! I mean...I think I remembered seeing her...back in the Middle East..."

As the three was preoccupied with the young Marine's explanation, they failed to notice a hidden camera placing on the upper corner.

All of sudden, a hidden metal door was automatically closed shut right behind Rico, Mobius 2 and two Marines, separating them and other three Witches.

"It's a trap!" Rico shouted out.

The Marines promptly aimed their rifles toward the hallway cloaked in darkness. They're prepared to fire at anything that move.

Then their nose picked up a certain smell. It hit their nostrils quite strongly.

"Gas...?" Mobius 2 asked.

"GAS! We got gas!" Johnson cried out.

"Put the mask on!"

While the fours were trying to pull out a gas mask from their backpack, a war cry abruptly echoed through out the close-spaced corridor almost shook everyone.

" ** _GGGGGRRRRAAAHHH! !_** "

The Ribbon Witch turned her head, only to see a man figure was already charging at them with a Kalashnikov's wooden buttstock on his end.

...

...

« What is going on down there? »

« It's the Marine team. They're under attacked by some nerve gas! »

« They what?! »

« Those animals! »

We have just returned back to the battle and things already developed sideways.

"Mobius 1, do you think..." I hesitated to ask about Mobius 2's status.

"..."

…

…

A number of flashlights were flicked on in the darkness. Three people who were the island's defenders, the insurgents had their weapons trained toward where the two Witches and Marines have fallen into their trap. However, with the thick volume of tear gas, the flash light was unable to tell them the status of the enemy, even worse that one of them, a young hotshot had charged right at them without waiting for anyone.

Such reckless. But trying to capture a Witch alive was even more dangerous.

"Did he get them?" A rebel asked.

His question soon received the answer, by a storm of bullets violently cut him down along with his comrades.

The hallway echoed with thunderous crispy weapon firings.

Spray and Pray.

Once a whole magazine was depleted, everything within the barrel was killed.

"Three tangos down." Mobius 2 said, dismissing her magical shield. She then put down the Kalashnikov which she had looted from the rebel.

"Phew! That was close." Sully sighed behind the mask.

"You alright, Rico?" Mobius 2 asked.

"Y-yeah, *cough!* *cough!*...I'm okay. I'm okay." The twin-tailed said.

The sealing metal door behind them was forced open thanks to Amber's Super Strength ability.

The gas soon dismissed.

"Girls! You two alright?"

"We're fine." Rico replied.

"We're _fine_ too, thanks for asking." The two Marines spoke up.

"If you were _puta_ , I will ask. Now get your asses up." The Lieutenant urged them.

"Hiiiee!"

Violet yelped once she noticed a body was lying by a pool of blood nearby. He had been killed by a combat knife that stabbed him directly at the back of his neck.

The knife was then removed by none other than Mobius 2. She quietly cleaned the blood off by using the rebel's clothes undirtied section, before putting it back in the sheath.

Only then she noticed everyone was looking at her with…unreadable expression.

"…What?" She was puzzled.

"Ehum! Lets continue." Lt. Moody called out. "Check those corners, I don't want any more peek-a-boo. Stay frosty Oscar Mike."

""Hooahh.""

…

…

The group continued their way down deeper. Blake noticed that Violet had stopped in her track as she was eyeing toward a certain corridor.

"What is it, Amber?"

"The thing...that I've picked up... It's over there." She nervously pointed her finger toward the direction.

A Marine trained his weapon to the path where he saw a dead end in the distance.

"I don't see anything though."

"At the end of it...I think it's behind a door." Violet continued.

"I'm sensing it too." Mobius 2 said.

"With your magic?"

"Woman's intuition."

Mobius 2's answer made many looked at each other.

Holding the FAL in her hands, she made the slow tactical approach.

Wordlessly, the Wild Badgers followed Mobius 2's lead. Lt. Moody signaled two Marines to follow them.

...

"Behind this door?" Rico asked Violet, who simply nodded.

Gently, the twin-tailed checked the door handle. It's opened.

The door's hinges made an awful dry eerie sound when Rico pushed the door open.

And what behind it, inside that very room...was not something that the Witches had ever seen before.

There were machines, sophisticated-looking hardware. But what solely captured their attention was a small, thin-looking girl, about 10 years old was lying on an old metal bed.

She was not sleeping though, or rather, she was in some sort of coma state.

"What the hell—"

With a good reflex, Rico had evaded a blunt object attack.

The attacker was another little girl, roughly about 10-12 years. Dress in a tattered rag.

Rico and others were dumbfounded when they're saw half of her face was bearing a terrible burn scar.

But what truly shocking to them was...

A pair of animal ears and tail.

She was a Witch.

"Contrac—"

" **NO!** Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" Rico frantically called out to Marines who were pointing their weapon at the hostile.

"Do not shoot her! I've got this!"

"Get out!" The girl screamed out.

"Easy there, we are not going to—"

" ** _Guraaaahhh! ! !_** "

Violet's soft voice was drowned away by the girl's animal-like throaty cry. She tried to attack Violet with the metal bar in her hand but Rico swiftly grabbed the weapon with her bare hand. Like the scar-faced Witch, Rico also activated her magic power.

Both of them somehow entered the wrestling.

In term of physical strength, among other Witches of 108th, Rico was the strongest and toughest one.

Soon, Rico managed to pin down the opponent by putting her against the wall.

Despite the scar-faced Witch was out of move, she still struggled by kicking her legs up and down.

"Hold still!"

The girl ignored Rico's words but making ear-piercing scream.

"Drop it."

A cold voice spoke up.

From a raging face that literally seek out for blood, it instantly shifted to a devastated and shock.

The scar-faced Witch's resistance dramatically ceased, like she had run out of juice. Her magic dismissed as her ears and tail were retracted.

Why she stopped resisting? The voice, it's Mobius 2? What the hell did she do? The twin-tailed thought as she turned her face around.

She soon learned why.

In term of psychology, Rico was shaken as much as everyone who all witnessed Mobius 2, the silver-haired girl with blue ribbon was pointing her 9mm sidearm directly at the small girl lying motionless on bed.

Finger was on the trigger.

"Please! Don't hurt her, please. I surrender. Please don't hurt her…" The girl kept begging pathetically. "I surrender..."

Once the poor girl was submitted in plastic handcuffs, Mobius 2 only then lowered her weapon.

And the moment she did that, Rico already made the approach and grabbed Mobius 2 by the collar.

For many times, Rico has done this kind of assault to Mobius 2, but only out of embarrassed, to stop her saying unnecessary things.

But this time, she did it in **rage!**

"What the hell do you think you are doing?!" She shouted.

"Pointing the weapon at some unconscious kid? Are you out of your mind?!"

While Rico was ranting, Mobius 2 wordlessly leveled up her pistol, deliberately showing the bottom of the weapon's handle.

"Do you think you can..."

The twin-tailed stopped her mouth when she finally took notice of it.

It was empty. There was no magazine in the weapon.

No magazine. No bullet.

"Just help you out." She said in a neutral voice.

"..."

"…"

"Tsk!"

Rico only clicked her tongue, for a second there she really wanted to punch this girl's light out.

She let go of Mobius 2, with a small force pushing her away.

"You might be as well as the Witch Killer…" She muttered under her breath.

"Rico…" Violet called with a worried voice.

"I'm fine!"

"Please don't hurt her…" The poor girl continued begging.

After a closer look, they noticed that there're a lot of tubes stabbed onto the girl's thin, fragile looking arm, connecting to some sort of machine.

"What is this machine?" Amber asked out loud.

"It is…a cloaking device." The unexpected answer was coming from the captured girl.

"So this is the source that…cloaking the whole island with illusion?" Blake stated her opinion.

"They...used...our magic to run that device..."

"Damn!" A Marine cursed under his breath.

"This is horrible."

"She is weak." Blake checked the little girl's pulse.

"Violet. See if you can't remove those things off of her." Rico said.

The purple-haired put herself to work.

"Huh...that's weird. This machine is not operating or anything."

"It turned off?"

"There was something here in this slot..."

"They took it…the core…" The little one said.

"Core? What core?" Rico asked.

"…"

"Where did they took it?" This time, Mobius 2 asked.

"…"

"Where?" She pressed on.

"The lower level…there is…a boat…waiting for them."

"Violet, Amber and Blake. Take these two outside." Rico quickly gave the order to her team. "I'm going down there to stop them."

Rico walked out of the room, passing by Mobius 2 like she was just the air.

Everyone soon followed Rico's order, leaving the Witch with blue ribbon to her own business.

"…" The Ribbon Witch quietly put the 15-round magazine back into the sidearm.

She then gently slid the gun's slide toward her, but not all the way for a round to be put inside the chamber.

Because there's one round already loaded in it.

…

…

"It's not a boat." Lt. Moody said. "It's a submarine."

The correct answer was provided by Sky Eye when he received new additional information from the further analysis of the island.

"This is a submarine base. And it is still operational."

"A Fuso submarine base back from the Neuroi War. Now's that something." A Marine commented.

"How come the Fusoans didn't know about this?"

"Probably they got so busy into rebuilding their country after the Ulysses. After all, they have to reduced their army just able to subtai—"

"Cut the chatters." Lt. Moody hissed. "You can go back to history class once we're done with this."

The point man stopped when they arrived at an L turn.

Carefully putting his face just a few inches out, he immediately put back in as soon as the wall was being smashed by multiple projectiles.

"Contact!"

The Marines quickly returned fire the insurgents.

Rico tried to move herself to the front so she can deploy her shield. However, a Marine stopped her.

"We got this."

The Lieutenant signaled to two Marines with a hand sign.

They soon pulled out a frag from the waist.

Following the suppressing fire, frags were thrown in.

"Frag out!"

Multiple voices of rebel cried out in distress and then ended abruptly by the big booms.

The Marines charged in. Any rebel who tried to regain themselves were all gun downed.

"Clear."

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

The very room that Marines had stormed in, was where their price is. The Insurgent's submarine.

It was hard to tell what model it was, but it's very large with the length about 120 meters.

"Look at the size of that thing!" Rico exclaimed. "It looks like a type submarine aircraft carrier."

"Don't gawk at it for too long, kids. It might get you pregnant." said Lt. Moody.

"That's sexual harassment!"

"Yeah-yeah." The man simply ignored Rico's outburst like his ex-wife.

They noticed that the hangar's main gate already opened, showing the blue water outside.

They also heard roaring jet engines above.

"Alright. Watch out for that submarine." Lt. Moody said, looking at the vessel. "There might be people in it."

"Sully, and...Rico. Give us cover."

Concealing himself under his comrade's torn body, he lifted up the carbine toward the twin-tailed Rico who unaware as she was watching over the Marines making the approach toward the plank that was placed on the port side of the submarine.

"Look out!" Sully called out as soon as he spotted a movement among the bodies.

Rico could only turned her head out of reflex.

A loud crispy bang occurred.

Rico and Marines simultaneously aimed their weapon, only saw the young girl wearing blue ribbon who pointed her weapon toward a man whose head got blown off.

Rico noticed a faint smoke was coming out from the pistol's barrel.

"You…"

Without a warning, the whole room was echoing with sound of running engine. The source was coming from the submarine.

"It started its engine. It's getting away!"

The vessel thrust itself forward, ignoring all kind of damages that it inflicted.

« This is Hexer to all units. You have the order to sink it! »

A handful of Marines who had the grenade launcher immediately opened fire.

However, the damages inflicted on the submarine didn't stop it from keep coming out to the open water.

Soon the sub started to submerge.

"Damn. It got away!"

"The target has escaped." Lt. Moody reported. "I say again, the submarine is leaving."

"Shit! If I still ride on my Striker Unit..."

While Rico was frustrated, Mobius 2 calmly contacted to a certain pilot with her gadget.

"Mobius 1."

« I hear you, sis. »

...

...

Whatever the state of the crew inside the submarine, they sure felt damn proud that they had pulled off such amazing stunt. This will surely something that they would brag to their comrades once they escaped from here. However, unbeknown to all of them, there was a certain metal bird that had its eyes onto them.

They're his prey.

« Mobius 1. Engaging. »

The F-14 dived down like a hawk.

Using just his naked eyes, he released the unguided bomb.

A few seconds, the bomb landed directly onto the submarine's conning tower.

Then came the imminent explosion.

« Enemy submarine sunk! » Sky Eye reported.

The radio channel erupted crazily with many friendly's voices.

« Damn. He _is_ a real deal! » Warwolf 2 said.

« He sure is, Guts. » Warwolf 1 agreed.

Then without a warning, the secondary explosion occurred, slashing the water up high for about 6 meters.

« Whoa! What was that secondary explosion?! »

« Hey, is it just us or there was a light blue ball has just exploded down there? »

« Mobius 1. You guys alright? You're the closet. » Sky Eye asked.

« We're fine...I'm not sure about my passenger though. »

« Ugh…I'm okay… » said the man.

…

…

The combat on the island marked as an exclusive zone was gradually subsided. With all of their drones and fighter were all shot down, the insurgents quietly came forward with both hands in the air.

The 108th Witches relieved their feet from the ground once they placed them back into the Striker Units.

As for Mobius 2, unfortunately she needed to find some tissues because one of her bare feet accidentally stepped on the...'mine'.

While she was preoccupied trying to scrape the muddy part off her foot, a knife hand made a land on the back of her head.

She turned around, there standing Rico.

The twin-tailed didn't show much anger, but still irritated for somehow.

She then took a deep breath before she said this.

"T-thank you...from before."

She tried to squeeze those words out.

"You really did save me...twice...but, to me. It's only that one time, okay?"

The silver-haired didn't say anything as she quietly observe Rico.

"Wh-what?"

"Is this what they called...Tsundere?"

"... ** _What?!_** N-no! Don't you go fucking weeb on me!"

"Language, lady!" Lt. Moody pointed out.

...

...

« Did anyone know what's inside that submarine? » Omega 11 asked.

« No idea, man. Whatever in that submarine, it's probably gone now. »

« Down to the bottom of the pacific. »

« This is Sky Eye to all units of 108th. We will begin the extraction operation. Leave this matter to the Liberion and Fuso. They will sort this out. »

« Mission accomplished. RTB. » The words from Sky Eye brought a good relief to ARRF combatants.

« That's one hell of a fight. »

« You're not wrong there. »

"This somehow…didn't feel like a victory to me." I confessed.

« You should be a book writer. » Mobius 1 chuckled. « Well, the war is still out there… »

With my hunch, this is just a...beginning of something.

...

* * *

 _Despite we're living in the 21st century. We're blocked away from accessing the internet and many other electronic devices._ _Gasoline was never supplied for the civilian car, only to military vehicles._

 _The bikes and walking on foot by-passing parked armoured vehicles and aircrafts flying above quickly became a daily sight on the streets._

 _School was remained opened for us to go, however,_ _with their new implemented education system._

 _But joke on them. I didn't go!_ _I didn't even tell my aunt about it either._

 _In fact, there were many kids like me who also didn't want to go. Maybe it was a way of showing our own rebellion spirit to the occupiers._

 _Money was not a problem for me since my aunt did leave some for me. But since I didn't go to school, sitting around and doing nothing didn't sit well with me so I decided to make some...income._

 _Playing the harmonica and selling some flowers I picked up from nearby hill, getting some charity and loose changes from the soldiers. But playing harmonica was much more profitable though._

 _~ The girl's diary ~_

 _\- Page 2 -_


	4. Mission 03: Blindman's Bluff

There're two types of tragedies in life: One is not getting what you want, the other is getting it.

And he was the latter.

He was like any common folk. He grew up in a poor neighbor. His family business was somewhat able to get the food on the table.

But the man has a dream, an inspiration.

With a sheer will, and a cunning mind that knows how to please the people who needed to be.

He arrived to his goal.

A big house.

A fancy car.

A good-looking woman.

However, he had picked something along the way.

Greed.

And it was something...he had to fulfill it.

When Ulysses had hit the Earth.

Almost everyone would say it was a catastrophe ever happened to mankind beside the Neuroi.

But to him and a few…with a mind of business.

It was a golden opportunity.

While the order of food and bandages were demanding, people were also in needed of something to protect themselves when their own government couldn't.

Firearms.

Small and big.

The man had them, and he sold them.

Sold the weapons to the people who needed them to fight.

People with their so-called standard moral would say it's wrong, but what's so _wrong_ about it? When those people claimed that they're freedom fighters? When their government had screwed them over, abandoned them for the sake of their convenience?

Moral or not. Legal or not.

It was a kind of basic human need. And he simply fulfilled it.

To him, it was strictly a business.

And it **_was_** a good business.

Products came out. Money came in.

The man got what his greed desired.

Wealth.

Power.

Women.

The man had everything.

With all the money he had earned, the man soon rewarded himself with a pleasure trip on the beautiful Tondo Sea. On his own private yacht. With a dozen of beautiful models dressed in skimpy bikini. A variety of choices for him to take them to the bed.

And there's one woman that stood out.

She had two-colored eyes, silver color on the left eye and the other was blue. From the look, she was a Liberion-Fuso born, well-developed.

To be honest, in his mind, she probably was just another harlot.

Until she pulled a 9mm compact pistol from her Victoria Secret.

All the thoughts how he would claim her body were all discarded as he was completely vulnerable, half naked, on bed.

Furious, the man was, however, he had experienced these sorts of situations before so he was not panicky like a pussy. Subtlety, he pressed a secret button placed inside his pillow.

At any second now, his guards would storm into the room and blast that bitch away!

...

However, no one has come to his rescue...

His rising fear was numbing his brain. He tried to learn what's happening, then the walkie-talkie placed on his side bed table started cracking up crazily with multiple voices.

He recognized the voices, they were belonged to his bodyguards. They sounded distress, saying they're under attacked.

Then those voices were abruptly ended, like something had stopped them.

He felt the vibration that shook his private quarter.

The sounds of helicopters along with jets' roaring were mixed up together…

Before he could register what's happening, his room was burst opened. Not by his bodyguards, but by a group of men wearing high-tech tactical gears like commando.

The woman in lingerie simply made way for them to subdue him.

They put a cloth over his face. His hands were roughly put behind his back, then got bonded by plastic handcuffs.

"Target is secured." said a commando.

"Take him to the living room." said the woman.

His heart was beating like a drum, but he tried to stay positive.

After all, they haven't killed him yet.

After a good period of time covering his eyes, the cloth was soon removed.

He registered that he was still on his private yacht. He was placed inside the living room, on a chair.

Before his eyes, a table was placed in between him and the very same woman who had seduced him.

Now she was no longer in her lingerie.

She dressed in a suit like any office lady. Black blazer, white shirt. Modest looking, yet it showed quite a charm about her.

There were saying: clothes make the man.

Well, the _woman_ , in this matter.

Behind her was a commando whose figure was...petite. She wore balaclava and shades, carried an assault rifle with tactical attachments.

Despite the bulky looks, the man could see the petite soldier was clearly a female, young, possibly a Witch. She didn't show her animal ears and tail though.

Perhaps she was looking forward for him to give her a chance to do it.

"You know. You certainly have gone quite a length just to get to me." He asked in a casual tone like he did to his customers. "Why don't you make a call to make a reservation?"

"Time is a luxury which I don't have." The suited woman answered, she then pulled out something from the envelope and spread them on the table.

They're the captured photos of cargo ships. Taken from many angles, even from bird view.

"You recognized these freighters?" asked the woman.

He remained silence once he glanced at those photos.

"These are the ships have launched unmanned drones armed with lethal weapons. They attacked the Liberion and Fuso force while they're conducting training exercises on one of Fuso uninhabited islands."

"Truly? Training exercises during a wartime? And when did this happen?" He asked. Almost sounded like mocking.

"…Six days ago. Only for combat readiness. There're many young recruits." She answered.

"True. The longer the war is, the younger the soldiers are."

"I think that's enough for patronizing."

"Is it?"

" **Yes.** " She said. "No point beating around the bush now. You and I both know those freighters have got your name on it."

"…Alright...those ships are mine." He admitted. "Or _were_. I received words that one was took in by NUN force and the other was sunk somewhere in the Pacific."

"In my defense, those ships were for hire. Whatever their intention how to use my ships is up to them. Like you book a room of the hotel."

"...true." A corner of her lip went up. "But you wouldn't want them to wreck your beautiful room, because you need it for the next guest. If they found your room was bad, then your whole hotel is bad, regardless of everything else."

"..."

"And by that very reason. In order not to let anyone to know those ships are used by terrorists, are in fact, belonged to you. You had them sunk by your own fighters…sorry, let me correct that. You had one of your freighters get sunk by a group of mercenary pilots. Because you need to hide that stain."

"Preposterous!" He reacted. "Where is the proof of that?"

She produced a piece of paper from her pocket.

"This is a manifest taken from one of your freighters, before it got struck by missiles." She revealed. "Unlike the other freighter which quickly destroyed its own manifest, this one has got a sloppy crew."

"..." He was angry but remained collected.

"Not that it will prove you involve with anything. But the Internet would love to get a piece of it. Lately, the war doesn't corner much to them."

"Doesn't concern much..." He repeated, then a smile formed on his face. "Are you aware that we're in the gray water. I heard that there's a hostile fleet run by...radical-minded Fusoans."

"I have taken that into the calculation."

Upon her words, the man heard a distant boom. He looked toward the window, on the horizon. A pillar of smoke was clearly seen.

He even spotted some small fast-moving dots, circling around the smoke column. If he made a wild guess, those would be fighter jets.

A naval battle was raging on as they speak.

The young girl carried the weapon occasionally took a glance outside.

But the woman sitting in front of him still focused her two-colored eyes on him, unbothered by the happening.

"Considering that I'm still on my yacht. You're not here to arrest me?" He asked.

"No. I'm not with the Interpol." She answered flatly.

"Ever though I have…traded the weapons?"

"You and _many_ , traffic those weapons. But thanks for giving me such an idea. I'm not with the Interpol, but I _do_ have some friends would love to keep you in their company. According to the law, they are legally to detain you without charge for 24 hours."

"And during 24 hours of you being...inactive. It would certainly give quite a…leverage for your other competitors."

Her words made his face frown. Indeed, in the world of arms, the competition was fierce. A minute late, a business's profit was already in the hand of somebody else.

The man clicked his tongue.

"Oh, sorry. Did that sting you?"

"Well, I'm more pissed with the fact that I have lost two freighters for no reason."

"Said the one giving those Kalash rifles to those children."

"Said the one with the Witch." He countered, looking at the petite bodyguard.

"They made their choice." She said firmly. "Your victims? They didn't."

"I didn't put those rifles into their hands. Their fathers, their brothers, even their mothers…they're the one who _did_ it." He defended.

"Personally, I prefer they shoot my guns. But I _prefer_ they shoot and miss. But as long as they keep shooting."

"…"

"..."

The man soon gave in.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"Your customer's address. Preferably, your customer name too."

...

...

« Omega 11 has bailed out from his plane. I see his chute. » Omega 2 reported. The Omega squadron has lost a plane, but not their pilot.

« Roger that. Search and rescue helicopter is on its way. » Sky Eye reassured.

« He really got too close to that cruiser. » Archer said.

« It's a miracle that he wasn't torn in pieces. » Fencer added.

« Well, Omega 11 got the big luck than the rest of us. » Omega leader gave a small laugh.

« But not his plane. » Fencer remarked.

« That vessel isn't giving up anytime soon. » Archer look out from the cockpit, seeing the rebel cruiser was blazing the whole sky with tracers.

A few minutes after the ARRF-affiliated fighter's first strike into this rebel fleet, the China-built cruiser was the remaining vessel, surrounded by its allied burning and sinking destroyers.

Even so, the cruiser crewed by the radical-minded militaries stubbornly put up their defiant spirit by firing their CIWS installed on the ship.

A number of missiles locked on and released, but them were all destroyed by hails of bullets before they could reach the target.

« This is Sky Eye to all units. That cruiser's Gatling guns are trashing your missiles. » AWACS said. « You need to overwhelm them. We have calculated the optimum course to take for the saturation attack. »

Soon, every plane of 108th received updated data on the HUD, marking the starting point to perform the air strike.

« Mobius 1 will take the lead. »

« Wilco. I have my big gun right here. » replied the pilot bearing a ribbon emblem on his sleeve.

Unlike to other allied planes that equipped jet engine that could go supersonic, Mobius 1 was flying a particular aircraft which was using twin-turbofan engine.

In term of dogfight with other aircraft, it was an unsuitable one, obsolete and ugly as hell.

But when attacking the ground targets, this aircraft was literally a hell maker.

The official designation for it was A-10 Thunderbolt II, however, most pilots would prefer it as: Warthog.

GAU-8 30mm Avenger rotary cannon was what the plane has to carry it.

Highly stable at low speeds, it specializes at extended and devastating low-altitude ground clearing on enemy formation in a single attack approach.

Simply put: This ground-attack fighter is equipped with tough armor and a **_large_** Gatling gun.

When it could kill tanks, about the ships?

Whatever the barrel was pointing at it, it became a fair game.

Despite the skepticism, Mobius 1 certainly felt he was lucky to grab this by chance when the order of sortie came in.

« All Task Force 108 aircraft, prepare for saturation attack by following Mobius 1's lead. »

« Here we go. » Mobius 1 said.

« We with you, Mobius 1. » Green Tail 1 said.

All allied fighters initiated the attack from multiple angles.

Once them have reached the approximate distance, all cannons roared along with missiles released.

« All planes, fire! All planes, fire! » And here's where Mobius 1 brought the 'liberty trademark' to the rebel ship.

 ** _BBRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTT! ! ! !_**

« Firing anti-ship missile! » Archer said, releasing special weapon.

« Hit. Damn it! » Fencer cried out, firing all her remaining missiles.

Like in the past when one ship suffered damage by a salvo.

That was exactly the reenactment of it. The entire ship was promptly slipped in half by the attack.

« The rebel cruiser sunk! » Sky Eye announced.

...

...

Once the suited woman got what she wanted, she soon removed herself from the chair and take a leave as her bodyguard followed.

Before the woman walked through the door, something had caught her eye.

"Oh?"

A certain wine bottle was placed on the stand. It's vintage-looking, given how the old, moss-stained label was proudly presented.

"I see that you've got a good eye." The man was impressed. Mostly his girls or some easy-minded partners would never notice it. "Eighty years old. My great grandfather had received it as a gift."

Ignored his story, the woman casually took it into her hand.

Before he could voice his protest, she simply said this.

"Consider this is the service fee."

"…You sure have _rated_ yourself an expensive one."

It's a subtle insult, however, the woman simply formed a smirk on her face.

There're two type tragedies: One is not getting what you want, the other is getting it.

Today, he was the former.

"Oh, by the way." She looked back to him once more. "There's a Witch would like to send her regards. She was in the freighter which was sunk by the missiles."

Following her words, the very petite bodyguard turned around toward him, unveiling her balaclava. She was a young girl with silver hair, blue eyes, wearing a blue ribbon.

With the assault rifle in her hand, pointing at the man's direction. The silver-haired pulled the trigger, long enough to unload every bullet in the magazine.

\/ /\ \/

I felt asleep?

I questioned myself when I opened my eyes, seeing a ceiling that I soon registered it's familiar.

This close-spaced quarter was designated as my room. To me, it's lucky that I have a room for my own rather sleeping with the others in berthing areas.

I must have fallen asleep while I was trying to write a draft for my story.

At least I felt refreshed.

However, I found my legs were kinda numb. I looked down, there was something, some kind of big and heavy pillow…

I unveiled my blanket and…before my very own eyes…there lied a beauty who was sleeping soundly right next to me.

…sliver hair, a bit…small…wait. **_Mobius 2?!_**

What is she doing my room?

Not only that, her outfit was…well...

She was not naked, fortunately. The girl wore silky sexies, a type of military-issued undie.

Did she somehow sleepwalk and entered my room by accident?

It was soon that her head started to move.

She looked at me with her usual sleepy face.

"…good morning." I greeted.

"…ello to you too."

As soon as she said it in a funny sleepy way, she thudded her head back down.

Hey. Hey, isn't this kinda a bit much? I mentally thought as I signed.

I tried to wake her up.

But before I get to do that…my door was burst open.

My heart almost went out of the window. Maybe by some…complications about FBI bursting the door open to arrest the pedophile, but Mobius 2 here is already at her mature age, right? Right? **Right?!**

"There she is!" The twin-tailed redhead, Rico exclaimed. She and the rest of her members stormed in, ignoring my own state of dress.

Mobius 2 was soon be placed in Wild Badgers' custody.

"You are not going to escape this time!" Rico said.

"No escape!" Amber repeated.

"How silly…" The sleepy silver-haired mumbled.

"Keep doing that and I will toss you straight into solitary!"

Before the Wild Badgers could lead Mobius 2 out of the room, I asked them.

"Uhm…where are you guys taking her?"

"To the sick bay. For the magical aptitude check up." Blake answered.

…

…

"Alright, summon your familiar, please."

By the doctor's words, Mobius 2's whole body was glowing dimly as her wings-like pair and dove tail emerged.

Mobius 2 was soon put through a certain CT scan machine.

I believe it was a compulsory procedure for every combat Witch after they've accomplished a mission. Long or short, no exception.

When the Witches had reached the age of 18, it was when their magic started showing sign of decline. In order to avoid sudden and needless death for the Witches if their magic suddenly gone in the heat of combat, this was the way.

After a moment, the result soon came out.

"It's green. As usual." Sigi, the female doctor in charged revealed the result.

She was a Karslander, with her platinum blonde, medium hair. Judging from her young, mature-looking face. I'd said she's about in her late 20s.

Even with her lab coat, she was able give off present her well-proportioned body and nice long legs as she was sitting cross-legged on her stool.

"See? Why bother doing it?" Mobius 2 still responded with her lazy character.

"Why you…" Rico balled her fist.

"What happens if it's red?" I asked.

"More like orange." Sigi chuckled. "If a Witch hit the orange bar, she will be immediately sent back to the rear. And from that point on, she will receive an honorable discharge. Or she can continue in the service as a combat Witch Instructor for new recruits."

"Ugh…reminds my worst days back then." Rico and others made a long sigh.

"Aye." Even Mobius 2 agreed. There was a grim look on her face.

"That will be all for today, girls." The doctor bid her farewell as she moved herself into the room next door.

Behind the opened door, I caught a sight of two peculiar girls, younger than most of everyone here, even the Witches.

I learned that they've been rescued from the operation attacking the insurgent base which occurred six days ago.

They're Civilian Witches, meaning they're not affiliated to any armed forces. Just ordinary girls have awakened their Witch power one day.

Unfortunately, those girls have been kidnapped by insurgents who wanted to utilize their Witch power.

Against their will, those poor girls have been used as 'batteries' for the cloaking magic device.

Forced them work to the bone like slave labours. The two sisters here have supplied their power to the machine in rotation, 12-hour work shift, day after day, again and again, for nearly three months since the day they were put on that island.

When I first saw them, my heart sank.

Men can do the unspeakable things. Their crimes were not for the faint of heart.

Fortunately, the girls' lives were not in danger. As soon as they arrived on Mirai, they're immediately received proper medical treatment and nutrient supplements.

Now they're looking much better and lively, the younger one was in a steady recovery.

The older one whose face was wrapped up in bandaged...when she noticed me, she immediately threw at me with an icy glare, or rather, _at_ Mobius 2 who was standing next to me. She placed herself right before her little sister, like a mother protecting her child.

The door then automatically closed, ending the episode.

"What happened...?" I asked, with a bit hesitant.

"I guess I was being a dumbass." She answered in her normal tone simply made me curious. However, I did not press the matter.

"…"

At the same time, I was unaware how Rico and the others simply remained their silence.

\/ /\ \/

Nowadays, the invention for the machine to be operated with magic wasn't a wild idea. But to put the Witches to be used in such way. How horrible.

However, the thought that how did they manage to get such a device was a large question.

…How do they get financial supports?

Where did those drones come from?

Are they Erusea-affiliated?

Questions came with more questions.

The Fuso and Liberion were investigating that matter. Hopefully, a contact of mine could shed some light for that in a few days.

When I engaged this topic to the sailors and soldiers on board, most just shrugged their shoulder and simply said.

"As long as we get kill to them all, then we'll have nothing to worry about."

If it's such easy…

"Yo, Jay-man." A colored sailor called out to me. "The Commodore wants to see you."

…

…

Commodore Hayate.

Not only she was the captain of the ship Mirai, but she was also the commanding officer of 108th Task Force.

Hexer, was her callsign.

She was a Liberion-Fuso born, and she was formerly a Witch, joined the US Navy since 2005. After her magic was dismissed, she continued her military service, and rose through the ranks. She was one of the few hand-picked by NUN Council to command the peacekeeping force.

Despite her young age, she earned a good respect among her men and Witches.

Still…a 'slave driver'. That's what I caught hearing from the pilots and sailors by chance.

Today, she and I simply had a normal conversation about my well-being on Mirai and few chatting topics. She then asked me to hand over all of my photos. She and her MPs were quite throughout in finding my photos whether they're sensitive or not, they certainly didn't want me to leak them to my agency without their permission.

The attack on the insurgent island base was remained a secret from the public eye. I personally felt that we should tell the world about these insurgents have done to those poor girls.

However, Commodore Hayate pointed out those two girls have suffered enough, she didn't want them to be exploited by the media.

At some point, I had to agree with her.

People nowadays were…eccentric, and took things for granted.

In the past, Witches earned the greatest respect from mankind.

In this day of age though, they became the subjects of…controversy. The old guards, and young people would rather have them stay at home, let alone join the army and fight the war.

They wanted to undermine the Witch's value, to the point that they turned to some individuals, who were disgusted by many…by a whole **world** in fact. They revalued and deemed them as…worthy.

One exemplary example was Trevor Maloney. He was a Britannian Air Chief Marshall who hated the Witches so much that he created Warlock, a prototype mecha war machine powered by a Neuroi core. He had hoped to use it as a trump card to fight the Neuroi and replaced/disbanded the Witches at the same time. Unfortunately, his Warlock turned on human as soon as it's corrupted by the alien core.

For his crime, he became a hated figure on the history page, but today, his deed was being reevaluated through a few arguably essays and lingered on a certain type of medium on the Internet.

Memes. They made so much noise than some kid crying in the plane or in the restaurant.

#TrevoyMaloneydidnothingwrong.

Life sure became some sort of comedy.

"Would this anger them so much that their work was all for nothing?" I invoked her with the question.

"I think you have the wrong assumption about the Witches." She said.

"Back in the Neuroi War, none of them was thirst for glory. Even as a former Witch, I can't say for all them, but I believed that in their heart and mind. They wanted to protect their loved ones. They wanted to make a difference. Not to be bonded by the family's wish, get into some setup marriage to a partner that she never met."

"I guess that wisdom came along as they're growing up." I said.

"Growing into a mature, is one thing. But _being_ one, is entirely different." She said.

"Even now, the girls of 108th. They're still young, and have many things to learn. And they have a lot of time to grow."

She looked over her shoulder, checking a captured photo of her younger self, while she's still a Witch, wearing F-14 Striker Unit.

"In the end, in each and everyone of them. They're just children. Normal girl who should have enjoy things in life, eating together with their family, experience love."

"..."

"That will be all for today. Thank you for your time."

\/ /\ \/

"And then I was like: Go. Go. Go! Get your asses down there!" Rico said as she was reenacting the scene action with her hand signal.

"So that you can take the whole seat for myself." Amber said.

"Shut up! Everyone all appreciated my gun support."

"Cut through everything with a minigun sure is something." A Marine said.

""Oooohhh!"" The sailors exclaimed.

Having their free time, Rico and the other Wild Badgers decided to retell the story about their recent operation to Mirai's crew in the mess hall.

"Hey. Hey. You're spoiling it!" Rico stopped the spoil boy.

"Right…where was I…oh right!" She continued.

"After the commando team have dropped onto the ship, they quickly apprehended the workers on deck and gathered them at one place."

"The VTOL which was carrying me. We circled around the ship a few times…and then…beep! Beep! Beep!"

"By the bridge's balcony, a couple of guys rushed out, each carried RPG and start shooting at us."

"I immediately opened fire. My bullets cut through everything! Even an RPG warhead, blasting it right in mid-air!"

"Yeah, I remembered how she sweep through the entire second floor with her minigun." A helicopter pilot said.

"But they're bunch of crafty bastards. Hid that AA gun right in one of those containers."

"If we weren't onboard, you guys were pretty become mince meat."

"Aye."

They remembered how the accompanied Witches bravely put up their magic shield, protecting the soldiers from incoming fires from small arms and the said AA gun.

"And I destroyed that AA gun instantly."

"True, you did. Sadly, you then got thrown out of the game." The Marine said.

"Hey!"

"What? What? How?" A young sailor asked with full attention.

"An RPG almost hit them if it wasn't for the pilot quickly pulled it away." A soldier explained, remembering that particular event in the heat of shootout.

"Rico didn't hook herself with the safety rope so... Weeeeee~"

Amber mimicked the sound effect of cartoon dropping as her hand dropped from a height and…

"Splash! Our leader hit the water. I said again. Our leader had hit the water."

Her reenacted words prompted everyone to laugh.

"As if it wasn't bad enough." A Marine continued the story. "Some guy with the power suit appeared."

"Straight out from that sci-fi movie."

"Good thing Mobius 2 was with us so she destroyed it quickly with the Panzerfaust." said the helicopter pilot.

"Then the power suit's destruction torn open up the whole deck of the ship pretty nicely." Amber's hands gestured the explosion.

"That explosion pretty much blocked our path to the ship's interior."

"Before everyone knows it, Mobius 2 decided to go in all by herself."

"She got it easy. She descended herself down inside the ship like a helicopter with her Striker."

"Boy, I'm so jealous. You guys get more action than us." Another Marine said. "Our raid on the other freighter wasn't that big. The crew quickly surrendered."

"There were some happy triggers, but Esteri team quickly took the fun out of us."

Everyone turned their face toward two certain Witches who were enjoying their own drink. You could pretty much guess how those two got their TAC name.

"You're welcome." Coffee said, sipping her...coffee cup.

"But boy, those two missiles really came out of nowhere and hit at us."

"They struck at the ship specifically though." Violet remarked.

"We thought we'd lost Mobius 2 when the missiles struck."

"Almost gave us a heart when we didn't her respond over the radio or anything, not until the last moment she flew out of there when the ship was nearly submerged."

"If I have the ability to float myself on water than those rebels would have a hell to pay." Rico said, feeling pissed in that moment.

"Too bad we don't have any water-based Witch." A crew said. "But why seeing you turn yourself into some ship girls would be awesome."

By his words, many formed a certain…idea in their head.

"Witches doesn't surf." Rico said. "Let alone some...Striker that can...walk on water."

"Walking on water like...Jesus…or Jesusette." Amber said.

"..."

"..."

"Oh my god, you're so going to hell for this." Rico was grimaced.

"But Mobius 2 sure quick like a bird." The crew returned back to the topic.

"Well, her familiar is a dove."

"True. But she is quickest than any Witch in combat I've seen before." A Marine said.

"Maybe that's because she didn't any… _wing_ resistance."

With both of his opened hands, they're going down slowly before his upper section of the body, gesturing certain parts that Mobius 2 was…lacking.

"A blessing in disguise."

Every man promptly burst out with their laughter from the top of their lung.

"Buahahaha…"

The men only stopped laughing once they felt the piercing gaze of ice from every female personnel, especially the Witches…

\/ /\ \/

"Everyone here? Good. Let's get this briefing underway."

The system soon started up, showing the ARRF insignia, and then the world map. It then zoomed onto the section on the Pacific water.

"Before we get into the detail. Tondo and Fuso government extend their thanks for your effort. You have sunk six vessels of the rebel fleet. That would surely give quite an easy time for their maritime defense force and other civilian ships out there."

"Just another day in the office." Mobius 1 said.

The pilots and Witches cheered by his words.

"Alright, back to the topic of this briefing. After further investigation on the attack drones have launched from the freighters. We have learned their origin."

"We believed that they have come from here, on the Choka Island."

The screen showed a certain island that stretched from the northern part of Fuso mainland to the Orussia Far East. A few parts of it were large craters, created by Ulysses.

"It is a disputed territory between Fuso and Orussia. Luckily for us, the Insurgent base is located on the Fuso side."

"A Fuso special assault force has prepared and readied to go at the moment notice. However, we will be the first one to arrive and take out all of base's defense capabilities."

The screen then run a short projection clip of the planned attack. There were three defense lines that they have to punch through. 15km was the distance between the first line of defense all the way to the enemy base.

"Further more, a Fuso's squadron will be joining with us."

"The...9th Air Wing?"

"Maybe we'll see that Fuso Witch again." Tea whispered to Coffee.

"Unfortunately, no." The briefer revealed. "However, these guys are more…unique."

The screen soon revealed a certain icon…or an insignia. It was bearing a shape of a plane with forward-swept wings.

"Joint Test Flying Evaluation Squadron. You can say it's one of Fuso's experimental flights for their prototype aircraft."

"They want to test their new developed Advanced Support Fighter."

The emblem appeared along with captured images of the said plane promptly gained all eyes in the room.

"ASF-X Shinden II, aka. Magnificent Lightning II." He announced the name.

"They believed that would be a good chance to gain quite a battle data for the Shinden II in this operation."

"So…you're saying that we'll simply roll out the red carpet for them to score the kill?" Fencer frowned.

"More like a friendly competition." He corrected her. "You keep doing best what you do best out there. Don't let them...smoke you."

"That's more like it." Fencer smiled.

"Competition in the middle of battle, you don't get that often." Omega 11 said.

The positive energy was arising in the room.

"If we lose…well…lesson learn."

From here, the briefer hoped that he would receive some good chuckles from everyone.

Unfortunately, the reality was often disappointing.

As soon as he had said it, the booing immediately tossed right at him.

"Boooo!"

"Get us new planes!" Omega 11 shouted out.

Somehow came with prepare, everyone in the room started throwing ball-sized paper at the briefer.

"Mobius team. Omega squadron. You're up for this!" He skillfully dodged them, at least not letting them land on his face.

"Esteri team and Green Tails will be on stand by."

"D-dismiss!"

\/ /\ \/

Another day, another battle for the 108th.

I wasn't sure that if I was lucky or not. Because I get to sit this one out as well.

However, with the passing words around. I believe that this will be another insurgent base that we will reduce it to rubble.

As i was watching the deck crew making the preparation for Omega squadron and Mobius team, I noticed something. Something that I should have realized from the beginning.

Mobius team. They're the only pair, a pilot and a Witch. Flying together.

As for the other, they're always with the same kind. Witch to Witch. Pilot to pilot.

"I hope after this one. We'll finally get a good rest." Rico said.

On the tower, I stood along with Wild Badger girls who won't be participating in this operation.

"I don't know. Even if it we did smash this one. Another will take its place." Blake was showing her gloomy altitude.

"How the hell you get so…pessimistic like that?" Rico frowned.

"Maybe there's a secret society. Controlling our way of life. When the war keeps going, their pocket gets filled."

"Oh, that's dark." Amber said.

"This is…rather different than what I would have imagined." Violet said.

"About what?" I asked.

"War." Violet answered. "What I learned first thing about the war is the Neuroi War. They're the invaders, destroy everything in their path."

"All human have united to fight such common enemy." The purple-haired continued. "But now, this war. It's hard to tell who was the aggressor and who was the victim."

"…"

"…"

"Have you been listening to that…princess pirate broadcast?" Nico asked.

"Well… a little bit…" She confessed. "Please-don't-tell-anyone!"

Violet's pledging managed to save herself from any earful lecture. Especially from their commanding officer.

"Human conflict...is rather a complicated matter." I said.

"It's always a complicated matter, kids." A dark-skinned soldier who was the armorer stood next to us spoke up. "But do yourself a favor and just leave that to the politicians. We are peace keepers, and this is our job."

"...Hey, if those Neuroi would ever return. Can you fight them?"

Perhaps my question was rather unexpected. The Witches silently looked at each other, until Rico smiled with confident.

"When it comes to that, then we'll find out."

Me and the girls then silently watched Mobius team took off from the runway.

...

* * *

 **MISSION 3**

 **BLINDMAN's BLUFF**

 **1043hrs. August 24th, 2019**

 **Choka Island dispute (Fuso/ Orussia) / / 50° 69′ 10" N 142° 95′ 06" E**

 **Cloud Cover: Broken**

 **Operation Name: Magic Spear**

\/ /\ \/

« I can't believe that it'd been a whole week since that Operation Scooping. And we still haven't dock in Fuso yet. » Omega 11 spoke up.

« What do you mean, we did dock in Fuso. » Omega 2 said.

« Does not apply when we only docked at the US naval base. That doesn't count. Further more, we were on standby. » He said, sighing. « Boy, our Hexer sure is a slave driver. »

« When she took the Witches and a commando team to elsewhere, we immediately get our ass hauled to fight a rebel fleet. »

« It's sure indeed that was stressful. » Mobius 1 agreed.

« Not you! » Omega 11 promptly remarked.

« You get to fly the Hog when I still stuck with my default Rafale. »

« And you turned it into a Helvetia cheese. » Mobius 2 countered.

Her words roused the 'OOoooh' from the allied fighters.

« …Guilty as charged. » The Britannian pilot groaned.

« Well, I have switched back to my F-14 now. » He defended as he was flying the said aircraft. « Speaking about planes, I'm more concerned about my little sis's Striker here. »

« My Striker is fine. » The silver-haired Witch curtly replied.

« The Super Hornet would be a nice change. » He pressed on.

« This is Sky Eye to all units. Remember, we do not have the clearance to fly over Orussia air space. So watch your radar. Their SAM will lock onto you the moment you flew pass over the border. »

« Isn't this island belonged to the Fuso? » Omega 2 asked.

« It was. Until the Orussia rolled in after the Ulysses Event with the pretext to aid the population. » explained Omega 5, who had a quirk of being a historian.

« Official paper was there, but then back and forth with Fuso changing government and its conservative party. It somehow turned into a disputed territory. »

« Speaking of Orussia, aren't they having their own civil war going on right now? » Omega 2 continued.

« That's the rumor. Sadly, the Iron Curtain is still up. »

« With the whole continent going crazy over with Erusea, the Orussia still remains a neutral country that isolated from the rest of the world? I don't buy it. » said Omega 11. « For one, they're pro-Erusean. They're supportive when Erusea declared war on Liberion. »

« So that explained why half of Erusean aircrafts were Orussia-made. » Omega 2 realized the fact. « Do you think Orussia would join Erusea later on in this war? »

« Heh! If that's the case, we're super screwed. » Omega 5 came with a small laugh.

« Or maybe the Orussia has played this as their proxy war. » Mobius 1 joined in.

« Proxy war... » Mobius 2 muttered.

« _Crush_ the Liberion to the ground! » Omega 11 quoted the Erusea's anti-Liberion quote.

« Oi. Oi. Keep your topic in check. » Omega leader called out. « I'm more concerned about this experimental flight though. Are they good or not? »

« Giving some targets for them to score would be a nice gesture. » Sky Eye said.

« If the pilot is female. Then I'm a 120% would do it. » Omega 11 declared.

Soon, everyone's radar picked up something.

« I've got two blips on radar. IFF is responding. » Omega 1 reported. « They're friendly. »

The flying Witch looked over her shoulder, noticing two fast-enclosing dots.

« Here they come. »

Following Mobius 2's words, two dark-colored aircraft with gold outliner flew passed over the 108th fighters.

Shinden IIs, they're certainly bearing a kind of futuristic design.

Forward-swept wing like Su-47.

Twin-engine with over and under design.

After the Ulysses Disaster, the Fuso has lost the means to design and invent a plane that would bearing their nation character. Only to produce the fighter jets under Liberion's license.

However, after many years of tribulations and trials, the ASF-X Shinden IIs were Fuso's highly ambitious project and the solution for their deterrence capability.

« *whistle* Now that is one sexy plane. » Omega 11 commented.

Mobius 1 spotted the emblem of a skull facing side way with wing.

« Nice emblem. » He said.

« This is Joint Test Flying Evaluation Squadron affiliated to Fuso Air Defend Force. Callsign: Zero 2 of Zero team. » said a female Fuso pilot.

« Oh nice! It's a female! » Omega 11 exclaimed with glee.

« This is NUN-affiliated AWACS Sky Eye. I'll be directing combat aps for all active aircraft. » The AWACS reported in. « Good to have you onboard. »

« Hey, might we can get a chance to fly them? » Omega 11 asked over the radio.

« If you let us rack up the kill, then you might. » a certain gruff male voice spoke up casually with his Australis's accent.

« H-hold up. You're not a Fusoan. »

« Nope. Just an immigrant who was lucky enough to land into this program. Name's Viper. Yoroshiku (Nice to meet you). »

« Hoho! Watch out guys. Looks like we've got a badass over here. »

...

...

 _So these're the one the we will work together? More like a bunch of cowboys._ Zero 2, aka. Edge silently thought.

She then noticed something was flying next to her. She was completely taken by surprised, seeing a young silver-haired girl, wearing a blue ribbon on her head. Clapping around both of her legs were a blue-colored Striker Unit, F-4 model.

« You're a Witch… » Edge spoke up.

« Is there a problem? » Mobius 2 asked.

« Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to disrespect you. It's just that...my little sister is also a Witch as well... »

« Oh? Is she on the front line? »

« Fortunately, no. She's still in the training course...however, she did go wild with that racing though. »

« Oh, that Witch racing? »

When the civilization advanced, the need for a new kind of entertainment was often sought out.

Sky Race. A newly founded type of motorsport for the Witches to race in their customized Striker Unit.

It's believed that it was created by none other than Charlotte E. Yeager, aka. Glamorous Shirley, or The Queen of the Speed. She was the first Witch _and_ the first person on Earth who broke the sound barrier.

Bonneville Salt Flats was the place where Shirley organized the first Sky Race for herself and other retired Witches after the Neuroi War.

Inspired from the graduating test for Witches in school. Passing through obstacles. Shooting the targets in a limited time.

It was a thrilling, breath-taking experience to every spectator.

Since then, it rapidly became a phenomenon and attracted many young Witches who had awakened their power in their early teen. It's a sport for the world to watch.

Even in times of war, the human can always find a way to distract themselves.

« I see. Sounds like she's a handful. » Mobius 2 said.

« Indeed... She always wants to stick with me. »

« Heh. »

Hearing her brother's snicker, Mobius 2 asked.

« What? »

« Uhm-uhm, nothing. »

« But how come there's only you? Where is your wingman? » Edge asked.

« I'm with him. » Mobius 2 pointed her finger toward the F-14 bearing a ribbon emblem.

 _A team consist of a Witch and a fighter altogether?_ Nagase was finding it's hard to believe.

« Ribbon? That's one stupid emblem. » Viper said.

« … »

Viper noticed the silver-haired Witch was giving him a dagger-glare.

« What? »

« Six hundred meters to the first line of defend. » Sky Eye updated.

It was then all combatants discarded whatever thought in their mind and turned themselves into the fighter pilot.

« Targets are in range. » AWACS finally broke the silence.

« All units. Commerce the attack! »

« Mobius 1. Engage! »

« Omega 1. Fox 3. »

The entire defense installation was bombarded by air-to-ground missiles.

« Good job. We've broke through the first line! »

« Keep an eye on your altitude while you're striking the ground targets. » AWACS gave the advice.

« We also have picked up some vehicles equipped with anti-air radar. Destroying them would bring easy time for the assault force. »

« I see it. The radar car on your twelve, Mobius 1. » Omega 5 radioed in. « Hit it! »

« It's an air raid! They're going for the radar car! GET OUT OF— » The rebel's voice was cut off abruptly when the missiles struck.

« Viper to Edge. Activate the Tactical Datalink. »

« Copy. Connecting. » Zero 2 replied.

There's a saying: Two was better than one.

Or the more the merrier.

It's incorporating sensor fusion tech installed on Shinden II. The system would work in tandem to enhance the whole squadron attack power.

Simply put: The Datalink will boost the weapon's accuracy, reload speed, firepower and a hell of a lot more.

« Datalink activated. » Edge said.

« Good. Maintain your distance as you approach, Edge. »

« Edge, copy. »

Side by side, the pair of Shinden IIs dived down, attempting to make low-altitude attack on ground targets.

« Viper. Engaging. »

« Edge. Engaging! »

Syncing together, the two Shinden IIs performed the attack flawlessly. No AA gun or SAM could put a dent on them.

« Look at them go! » Omega 11 was impressed, seeing the craft they're flying.

« Like lightning. » Mobius 2 said, seeing the name was fitted.

« Don't go too wild with your new toy there. » Mobius 1 said, finding new target to destroy.

« Tactical recon data updated. » Edge read out her instrument.

« Enemy installation in the area destroyed. Proceed to the next target point. » Sky Eye gave the directive while he was giving new data to all units.

« If you can't hit from where you are. Reposition yourself and attack from another direction. » Viper gave the advice to his wingman. His lesson may apply to the others if they're interested in hearing it.

« Slow and steady wins the race, and all that. »

« I like that. » The Witch agreed. Slow and steady, just like when she does things at her own pace.

« Mobius 2. You're not joining the fight? » asked Omega 2, who noticed the Witch was maintaining her flying altitude, in fact, she did not fire a single shot yet.

« Don't worry about me. You guys go and have fun. » She said it out flatly.

Witch was never used as some ground attack vehicle anyway.

« Mobius 2. Incoming missile. Invade! » Edge cried out.

The Witch did not follow the call. Instead, she pointed her machine gun toward the flying arrow and opened fire.

Following a burst of fire, the missile was exploded in mid air.

« Sugoi... (Awesome...) » Edge was amazed.

« Okay, now I having a flashback with that battle cruiser from the other day. » Omega 11 was grimaced.

« I guess an ace like you come in all sizes and shapes, eh? » Viper said.

« Mobius 2. Make yourself useful by keeping an eye on those two prototypes. It's be a nice gesture to do so. » Sky Eye gave the directive.

« If you say so. »

« You've broke through the last line of defense. Now attack the base. »

All fighters along with the Witch increased their afterburner, charging through the exit of the canyon.

The whole crater was turned into a natural lake, some facilities were built around it.

« Omega leader to all units. Hit them hard! »

...

...

Three minutes after the attack started, the isolated insurgent base was bathing in flame and smoke. All AA gun emplacements along with military vehicles were reduced to scrap metal.

« It's no use! The fire is spreading. We have to get out of here! » A distress voice was heard on the opened channel.

« Seem like they're abandoning the place. » Mobius 1 scanned the scene, seeing a dozen of rebel making a run on foot.

« Things are going well. » Omega 5 said.

« Don't jinx it. » Omega 11 said, feeling the episode.

« Attention all units, I have made contract with the Fuso assault force. They will be arriving in… » There was a sudden pause. « Wait…What's this? »

« Alert! » Sky Eye's voice promptly gained the attention. « We have fast approaching bogeys. Too small to be aircraft though. »

« Oh blimey! You jinxed it! » The Britannian pilot called it.

« Holy...there're at least dozens of them on my radar. Coming in hot! »

« They're drones. » Mobius 2 confirmed with her visual. She estimated about two squadrons strength, each consisted of 12 UAVs. They were the same ones that attacked them on the island.

« Again? I'm starting to hate those guys! » Omega 2 groaned.

« Edge. Keep close to me. » Viper made sure his wingman doesn't stray far away from him.

« Sky Eye, what do we do now? » Mobius 1 asked.

« Standby. I'm contracting Mirai. » The communicating came to a momentary halt.

« Ugh! There're so many of them. » Edge felt overwhelmed by the number.

« Don't panic. » Viper said, bringing a sense of calmness to her. « Just imagine they're somewhat clever moving target practices. »

« Sounds about right. » Mobius 1 agreed.

Zero 2 soon recollected herself and started to examine the situation closely.

« They looked similar…are those…Quoxs…? » Edge noticed the similarity on the craft's design.

« They look ominous. » Mobius 2 commented. « That's what Tea has said. »

« ...uhm, who? » Edge was confused.

« Attention all aircraft, and witch. » The AWACS returned to them. « The game plan is unchanged. Continue to maintain air superiority. »

« You just love saying that word, huh? » Omega 11 said.

« It's not as greedy as it sounds, Omega 11. » Sky Eye countered. « If we don't take out those drones, they will attack the incoming Fuso assault force. »

« Uso! (No way!) » Edge's exclaim could be heard. The shock was quickly changed into anger. « Saseru ka! (Like I'll let you do that!) »

« Calm down, Edge. » Viper tried to calm her.

How could she? They're her countrymen, and they're about walk into the death trap!

« We do need some back up here! » Omega 5 cried out.

« Green Tails and Esteri team are on their way. But I doubt that they would make it in time. » Sky Eye broke the grim fact. « Put up you're A-game here, everyone. Shoot them all down. »

« You heard the man. » Mobius 1 said. « Let's turn this into the shooting gallery! »

His encouragement soon received with the spirited laughter.

« Yeah! »

« We're with you, Mobius 1. »

« Omega 1 to all units. Break formation! » Omega 1 commanded his squadron, bringing them into the air battle fighting the drones.

« Same as before. High G-turn. »

« Stay focus. Don't get shoot down. » Sky Eye made sure that everyone focused the matter at hand. He really didn't want to report the casualty.

« Damn! I should have brought extra fuel. Now I don't have enough to engage another air battle. » Omega 11 whined, steadying his aircraft.

« Omega 11, you know the drill. » Omega 1 called out to him.

« Nay, I'm still good! Can take a few drones down before I switch to reserve. »

« Or bailout. » Mobius 2 added.

« Oi! I don't plan on walking home! » Omega 11 protested. « But I'll gladly to take up your taxi offer. »

« … » Her annoyed sigh could be heard.

« I'm kidding! »

« I guess they're still a bunch of nuggets down there. » Viper said to himself.

« Mobius 2. Keep an eye on the Zero team. » Sky Eye repeated the Witch's objective.

« ...Wilco. » Despite the answer, she would rather engage those machines though.

« Alright. I'll draw their fire. » Viper made the plan. « Think you can keep up with me, kid? »

« After you. » She replied confidently.

« The system data is updating. Tactical link data still stabilizes. » Edge reported.

« Target locked. Viper. Fox 2! »

In the mix of roaring jet engine and explosions in mid-air, the repeating missile warning and radio noises, the Witch picked up something, something that rather didn't belonged in the battlefield.

« Hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm~hmm~ »

 _A humming?_

« Was that a civilian radio broadcast? We've got quite a lot of noise up here. » Omega 11 said.

« Are these drones remote-controlled? It feels to me like there's a man inside it. » Edge voiced her opinion, seeing how agile the drones were, and they're quite smart not letting themselves to be get locked.

« Well, they do look pretty advanced, I give you that. » Viper agreed. « And they're pulling some funky maneuvers. »

A drone swooped pass Mobius 2, in that moment, she caught a glimpse of a certain emblem printed on the drone's body.

 _Butterfly?_

« Break right, bandit on Captain's tail. I'm on it. » Edge said.

« All right. Not bad. » Viper grinned.

The target was locked on in her radar.

« I have lock. Kurea! (Eat this!) » She fired the gun.

Not a moment too son, the projectiles torn through the metallic craft, rendering an explosion. It was a resounding kill, however, with the high-speed pursuit, she was closing in too fast to the recent occurred explosion.

As soon as she had passed through the dark ball-shaped smoke, her system promptly sounded off the warning.

Then her plane's nose started to dive down.

« Damn! My engine is…! »

« Edge! What's your status? » Viper said. « Talk to me. »

« Ugh! » She tried her best by pulling her plane's nose up.

Her bad luck didn't stop there, the HUD showed a new warning that she was being locked on.

« Uso daro! (You're kidding me!) »

When Edge thought that this was it, the drone was intercepted and destroyed by the Witch's machine gun from above.

« Steady now, Zero 2. » Mobius 2 arrived next to her.

« Your wings in intact. The rudder is fine too. Leaving a bit trail of smoke though. » The Witch examined the status of the plane as she made a circular maneuver around Edge's plane. « Some shrapnel must have entered the front air intake and damaged your engine. »

After a few button pressing, Edge finally leveled her Shinden back in the air.

« I have my plane back in my control now. Thank you, Mobius 2. » She said.

« Edge to Viper. I have my plane back in control. » She reported the plane status to her flight lead. « The other instruments are still A-okay. »

« I suppose that's enough flying for you then. Exit out of the combat zone, Edge. » Viper called it in.

« Shikashi— (But—) »

« Negative. » He interjected. « I know what you're trying to say, but it's no worth the risk of getting shot down in this place. Besides, we have gained sufficient battle data for the Shinden II. »

« I'll stay here to clean out the remaining bandits. Ya head back to base. »

With a resigned sigh, Zero 2 soon complied.

« …Edge, copy. »

« This is Zero 1 to Mobius 2. Sorry kid, can you accompany my wingman back? »

« Negative. » The ribbon Witch curtly replied.

« What? » Viper was rather surprised by the girl's respond.

« Omega 11. You're RTB as well so I'll leave the escort to you. »

« Y-you got it, Ribbon Princess. »

« Princess, huh? » Viper said. « Kids these day. »

« Mobius 2, please refrain from deciding things on your own like that. » While Sky Eye was rather disapproved of her behaviour, but her logic was on point.

« Omega 11. Protect our guest. » Sky Eye gave the objective to him.

« Roger that. » He replied, flying near to the damaged Shinden II. « Come on. Let's get you home safely. »

Zero 2 soon followed Dassault Rafale's lead.

« We should have help them. » Edge growled, feeling frustrated.

« Not to worry, my fair lady. » The Britannian reassured. « Those two are the best of the bests, our aces. Those stupid drones are not going to realize what sort of shit storm they're about to get into. »

His words were hard to believe. However, Edge was soon about to learn why.

The silver-haired Witch approached to her brother's F-14 in a close manner, very close that she could place her hand on the plane body. She then rotated herself around, having the pair back-to-back.

« Mobius 1. Ready? »

« Let's go, sis. »

By his words, they charged through the swarm of drones. Both machine guns roared. The projectiles cut down every drone in Mobius 1's twelve. As for his six, Mobius 2 took care of it.

« Woah, look at that. »

« It likes…they're dancing… » Edge said, feeling astonished by the Mobius team maneuver.

« Impressive. » said Viper « I guess they're old school. Don't need such tactical data link like we're using. »

One by one, the drones were dropping like flies. Downed by Mobius 1 and Mobius 2's saturation attack.

« The drones are down to 45%. Keep it up. »

After shooting down another drone, Mobius 2 noticed something was flying beneath her. It's a certain flying craft that appeared wanted to avoid the fighting above.

« Hey, what is that? »

« My radar is picking up…It's a…cruise missile?! » Sky Eye revealed an information that took everyone completely by surprise.

« What? »

« A cruise missile? »

« Where?! »

« Down there, near the ravine. » Mobius 2 pointed out.

« This is Sky Eye to Mirai! We have visual confirmation of a cruise missile is in a flying course. » AWACS frantically contacted the command.

« Who launched it? Don't tell me it's the insurgents? » Omega 2 said. « Where in the world they get those missiles and drones?! »

« Probably stole it from Orussia. » Viper suggested a wild idea.

« They certainly have guarded them well. » Sky Eye made a sarcasm.

« But never mind about that. We still have a chance to stop those missiles. »

« Omega 5 is on it. » Omega 1 reported.

« I have a lock. » said the pilot once his HUD locked on the target.

« Omega 5. Fox 2. Fox 2. »

The heat-seeking missiles were released and soon traveled in their own path.

It was an easy mark. All he needed to do was to watch his missiles getting closer and closer to the cruise missile and prepare to see a big bang...

Or so he thought.

« What the? It has just evaded my missiles? »

What had transpired was the object unexpectedly changed its flying path when the pair of missiles approached closer.

« That is a glider cruise missile. It can be quite maneuverable. »

True to AWASC's voice, the cruise missile did not simply travel in one direction. It had turned itself into a certain flying craft.

« Omega 1. Fox 2. »

Missile traveled, approaching fast to the cruise missile, but it suddenly pulled a zig-zag movement that rendered the missile trashed.

« Oi what the hell. It likes there's a man controlling it! »

« Oh god. There's another one! » Omega 5 pointed out, seeing a second missile.

« And it has drones escort as well! » Omega 2 said, spoting the flight-sized of drones.

« Damn! » Mobius 1 cursed.

« Mobius 1, go get them. I'll cover you. » Mobius 2 said.

« Wilco. »

Mobius 1 soon broke away from Mobius 2 who still maintained her position.

« Hey, kid. You're sure just leave her to feint them all by herself? » asked Viper.

« Don't worry. She is just shy around the strangers. » Her brother said.

« Heh! Guess I'll be joining with ya, ribbon kid. »

The Shinden II joined with the F-14 bearing a ribbon emblem side-by-side.

The escorting drones began to intercept them but they're underattacked by Mobius 2's machine gun.

« I'm over here, assholes. » Mobius 2 taunted the drones.

Held steady in one hand while the other was holding the gun's sling tight, she unleashed leads like a CWIS.

...

...

« They look like regular warhead but keep your distance. » Sky Eye gave his advice.

« Mobius 1. Zero 1. Be advised. Computation shows the missiles are course to two targets. One is heading for the Fuso assault force. I've already alerted them about the threat. The other is heading for Fuso. Potential target. Fuso Expo City, near to Tokyo. »

« That's the popular tourist place and a new trading city. » Viper felt disgusted that these terrorists have no line to draw. The Fusoans had worked so hard to build from the rock bottom back to the former height where they used to be. And these monsters dare to destroy it? Not on his watch!

« Take them out. »

The two pilots silently complied by increasing acceleration.

« Kid, you take care the left one. I got the right one. »

« Roger that, old man. » The young silver-haired pilot said.

« Give me a break. I'm still young, you know. » He said with a gruff tone.

Shinden II was a multirole fighter so switching from ground attack role to the interception role was swiftly.

The HUD's ring of death slowly moving toward the target like a claw reaching out to grab it.

However, the glider missile continued in an unpredictable zig-zag maneuver.

« Come on baby. Daddy needs a bullseye here... »

As soon as the long beep rung, Viper pressed the trigger.

From here, he silently watched his two missiles tango-ing with the big one until they're collided.

« Zero 1 shot down the missile! » Sky Eye announced, seeing the missile was downed, no sign of detonation.

« Good job baby girl. » He muttered to his sweet craft, then contacted Mobius 1. « How's your end, kid? »

The young pilot did not answer as he was focusing keeping his HUD onto the target. The glider's maneuver was getting more and more erratically, then without a warning, he noticed its afterburner got brighter.

« Alert! The cruise missile has increased its output. It's going vertical! » Sky Eye updated the situation as the cruise missile was flying upward.

« Shoot it down before it reaches critical altitude! »

Mobius 1's F14 retracted its wings, turning into an arrow and started climbing, chasing after the missile.

« Don't let it get away, Mobius 1. »

« Show us what you've got. You're the fastest among us! »

Allied voices encouraged the fighter pilot carrying the blue ribbon emblem.

« 20000 meters. »

Almost there...

« 25000 meters. »

Almost...

« 30000 meters. »

After a few seconds that felt like a minute, the HUD finally made a good long beep.

« Mobius 1. Fox 2! »

Missile was detached from the wing and made the approach toward the target in a matter of seconds.

Following the missile struck. A big white orb appeared all of sudden that almost swallowed UP Mobius 1.

After a shockwave run through violently, Mobius 1 managed to stabilize his plane.

« That was a direct hit. What an explosion! » Sky Eye exclaimed.

« Alright! »

« Beautiful! »

« That was cutting little too close. » Viper gave a soft sigh.

« You're telling me. You had us sweating up here. » Sky Eye admitted.

« Hey, was that good enough data for your aircraft? » Mobius 1 returned to Viper's side.

« It's enough. I'm glad we're partnered with you in this operation. My thanks. »

…

…

Back into the mission control room on Mirai, the crew made a wild cheer and fist bump to each other when the threats were eliminated.

However, Commodore Hayate remained her impassive expression as she was in deep thought.

 _Unknown unmanned drones. And now it's remote control glider_ _cruise missiles…_

 _Even though it's impossible, but that one particular country name just keeps popping up in my head._

"Belk…wait a minute. What's Mobius 2's status?" She asked the operator.

…

…

« Mobius 2. What is your status? » Sky Eye asked. He felt a bit bad that he had left her to own her device.

« Damn!-Tssk! » They made out the word in the static.

« Mobius 2? What's wrong? »

« I'm almost out of ammo. And I still have three bogeys remaining on my tail. »

The young girl's annoyed voice quickly placed their mind back to the previous situation where they've left her to feint those agile drones alone.

« Damn! » Mobius 1 cursed.

« Hold on kid, we're coming back for you. »

The F-14 and Shinden II quickly turned their nose around, each was hoping they would make it in time.

…

…

Mobius 2 somehow had strayed herself too far from the occurring battle zone.

No allied aircraft was within her sight.

It's just her and three sinister looking drones.

With another trigger pull, unleashing the bullets into targets, the barrel of the machine gun had turned into a burning hot rod like it just came out from the forge.

The weapon in her hand was soon jammed from overheating.

Out of annoyance, she tossed the weapon right at the lead drone.

It did a little damage on surface as the machine chased continued after her.

They attacked Mobius 2 relentlessly with both auto-cannon and missiles. The ribbon Witch's shield had withstood them all but she couldn't let her be on defensive all the time. She increased her speed, making some distance between her and them.

She aligned her flying path right in front of the lead chasing craft. At any second now, the drone should get a lock on her.

But Mobius 2 had a plan. A reckless one at that.

"Sorry."

Following a soft apologetic voice, the Striker's emergency lever was pulled by the very user. Soon the Unit was unbound from Mobius 2's legs.

With the momentum, the pursuing drones could not evade the objects which were coming toward them in time.

At the very moment the Striker Unit hit dead onto the drones, a powerful explosion occurred. It caused by a reaction between the fuel tank and magic engine upon the impact, swallowing up all three drones.

Mobius 2, who already pulled out her chute, suffered a terrible experience as the shockwave violently hit her, uplifting the chute. It spinned her round and round like a puppet, only to spare her once she started to descend down to the earth in a steady pace.

« I've got the beacon. Mobius 2 has bailed out from her Striker! » Sky Eye reported.

« She used her own Striker to _take out_ those drones?! » Omega 1 said.

« So reckless! »

« Did anyone see her chute? »

« I see it. I've got the chute. » Mobius 1 reported, seeing the distant chute.

« Goddamn it, kid. You keep flying like that and you'll die real soon. » Viper said.

"I won't die, sir." She calmly responded.

« Jeez, you're like Nagase. You even respond just like her. »

Viper's grunting words only made Mobius 2 chuckle.

« Hold on, I still see something on my radar… » Sky Eye noticed something.

« A stray…damn! It's heading straight for Mobius 2! »

« Shit. Is it intend to kill her in mid air!? »

« Mobius 2! » Her brother called out.

She realized the situation as she saw the approaching machine.

What she only got now was her 9mm sidearm. This was nothing but egg versus rock.

Regardless, she drew out her weapon while putting up her blue magical shield as she was bracing for the inevitable impact...

 _Tak-tak-tak-tak-tak!_ **Boom!**

Mobius 2 was dumbfounded as she was witnessing the last drone got slashed right before her eyes and it exploded.

Once more, the shockwave violently pushed her away, playing her momentary before she was descending down steadily again.

When the ringing in her ears were dropping down, a female voice spoke up from behind.

"That's quite a stunt you've pulled it off back there."

 _A voice? Right behind me. A Witch?_

Using her whole body as a weight, she tried to swing herself around to see who's behind her. Unfortunately, the mysterious Witch wouldn't let Mobius 2 do that. She already flanked around her and continued.

"You're pretty good." The voice continued.

Mobius 2 then felt the back of her head was pressed on by something. A finger, maybe. Or it's a gun barrel?

"Too bad, if you're still flying at this moment, then we can see how really good you are."

Soon the mysterious Witch removed her finger from Mobius 2's head.

"Maybe next time then. See ya."

Quickly, the silver-haired rotated herself again, she managed to catch a glimpse of a Witch bearing a gray hair. Her familiar…might be an eagle, seeing the look of the tail and pair of wings on her head. The Striker…it was a Su-37 Terminator. It was painted in dark gray color with yellow liner, and there was a large number emblazoned in the same color on her Striker.

"Thirteen…" Mobius 2 mumbled to herself.

« Mobius 2. Are you alright? What happened? »

"A Witch…" Despite Sky Eye's worried voice, she continued.

"Yellow Thirteen…"

…

* * *

 _There's a certain bar that was favored by the locals._

 _When the occupation troops settled in our town, it became a popular hangout spot for them. The neighbor was soon disgusted it._

 _Ms. Auntie, whom I seldomly saw her, was the owner of the bar. Despite everyone in town scorned her for doing business with the enemy, she always put a smile on her face when serving._

 _As for myself, I began to hanged out in that place frequently, playing harmonica for the soldiers to earn chump changes._

 _Ms. Auntie was very nice to me. She sometimes gave me her homemade quiches. They were the popular choice of all in the menu. Just don't go for the broccoli soup._

 _I also...had a crush on her son, who was a little older than me._

 _One day, out of nowhere, I somehow got employed by Ms. Auntie on the spot when her store was understaffed._

 _Before I even realized it, I already put my body to work, bringing food and drink to the tables all the way till the bar was calmed in the late evening._

 _"You really saved our hides, thank you." She said. "Say, how about you work here? You're pretty fast on your feet. My bar surely would gain a lot more customers. Besides, I always love to have a daughter."_

 _By Ms. Auntie's words, her son simply made a sigh, showing an annoyed expression._

 _"Then, I will be counting on you, big bro!"_

 _When I jokingly called him_ _out like that. It became somewhat a comedy skit for everyone, even the soldiers to enjoy._

 _~ The girl's diary ~_

 _\- Page 3 -_


	5. Intermission

... _He_ returned, and was welcomed as the hero.

Mobius 1, the young charisma silver-haired pilot, was swamped over by other pilots and deck crew as soon as his plane had landed. His deeds certainly earned himself the savior of the day.

The Witches were in glee as well calling out his callsign out of affection. I guessed that a part of his charm had captured their heart.

However, his wingman was not there…

On the other side of the runway, a rescue helicopter landed after they successfully recovered a downed Witch, namely: Mobius 2.

Looking at the helicopter crew, I spotted their expression were clearly troubled.

With a worried heart, I rushed out to see her condition.

"Mobius 2!" I called out her name.

I soon learned the source for the crew's troubled face.

Ribbon Princess...was a...'princess' indeed. She was sleeping quietly on the passenger seat without a care in the world. Despite a few attempts of gentle shaking, she did not bug.

"Can you take it from here?" One of the crew asked.

"I...I think I have ask her brother first." I said.

...

* * *

\/ /\ \/

« It's time for another history lesson. » The A.I voice spoke up in a spirited tone like he was waiting for this.

« Let's study about Fuso. »

« It was renowned as the oriental empire. Until the 1986 VG1, aka. Ulysses changed all that. »

« However, the Fusoans were hard-working people. One would say...defiant. They recovered their economy at a remarkable speed, and they've built the Expo City, a modern trading city as the symbol of their resilience. »

« It is a beacon of hope, and one of many Fuso's creations contributed to the world. Just like Doctor Ichiro Miyafuji, the one who invented Striker Unit for Witches to fight Neuroi, the enemy of mankind. »

« Speaking of such technology. There's one certain country that pushed the weapon development up to 120%. »

The screen showed a certain flag consisted of three colors: Black, white and yellow. With a gold line in the black portion.

« Principality of Belka. »

« Their ever first invention was the Goliath, an unmanned ground vehicle armed with high explosive. The Goliath has aided the Allied forces considerably in fighting the Neuroi. Besides that... »

Multiple images showing historic remarkable weapons appeared.

« Karsland's V1 rockets. »

« Orussia's Katyusha rocket launcher. »

« Liberion's T34 Calliope. »

« The Belkan had helped in developing these weapons for the Allied to fight Neuroi on the front line. »

« In the last months of 1945, following the liberation of Berlin thanks to the gallant effort of 501st Strike Witches. »

After the shown image of the said group, the screen shifted back to the world map of 1945.

« The Neuroi unexpectedly launched a surprise attack into Belka. Many viewed that this was the Neuroi's desperate attempt to regroup and launch the counter-attack, using Belka as their step stone. »

« The Belkans have fought heroically and ferociously but they couldn't stop the amassing enemy swarming in number. »

« Desperately. In hope of stopping the Neuroi forever, the Belkans detonated seven nuclear bombs on their own soil. »

« On that very day, all remaining Neuroi were wiped out from the face of the earth. And so the Principality of Belka. »

« They're acknowledged as heroes of mankind. »

« Even though their country was no longer existed, their advance technology remained. Many Belkan scientists were recruited by Liberion and Orussia. The rest is history. »

The A.I then noticed his master was remained silent throughout the course.

« You must be tired. We'll continue this session later. »

\/ /\ \/

* * *

 _Fire...it's hot..._

Everywhere she looked and turned. The strong blazing fire was consuming everything in her sight.

The wall. The paintings. The carpet.

 _Fire..._

 _It's everywhere..._

To her own realization and horror, the fire began to make its own approaching toward her.

She was the only thing it hadn't devoured her yet.

She quickly turned to the path where the fire was not there.

She ran.

 _Where's everyone?_

She ran.

 _Sis..._

 _Where are you?_

Oh how she wanted to see her sister. Her big, beautiful sister who had gorgeous golden silk hair, wearing a blue ribbon.

 _Sister!_

The girl cried out.

...

With a certain fighter's engine was roaring above, it prompted Mobius 2 to open her eyes.

A cold grey-colored ceiling. A small spinning fan.

A minute later, she felt her whole bed was moist. It was caused by her sweats.

...

...

"Mobius 2, despite your claim." said Commodore Hayate. "The report on an Erusean Witch flying over the Orussia air space did not hold well."

She placed Mobius 2's report files on her desk.

"They applied it's your hallucination, under combat stressed and all."

The combat report about Erusean Witch was only reported by Mobius 2.

Her brother and the others did not make the account like she did. When they arrived to the scene, they only saw the after match.

"I simply reported what I've saw, ma'am." Mobius 2 said. Her expression remained passive through out the conversation.

"True..." She sighed lightly.

"Well, although they said that, but a part of me do agree with them."

"You have worked hard lately, I apologize."

"..." Mobius 2 simply blinked by her words.

She rather found her commodore's apology was rather...misplaced.

"But enough of that." Cmdr. Hayate then smiled, changing the mood. "A new Striker Unit is already on its way to you, the Super Hornet."

"Your brother will receive the same model as well, along with some new upgrades."

"In the mean times, get some good rest. You earned it."

"You're dismissed."

The silver-haired Witch quietly saluted to Commodore and walked out of the room.

As soon as the Witch had left the room, Hayate settled back on her chair once more.

"Erusea and Orussia. This is certainly becoming a trouble."

This was an alarming sight. Sadly, some in the HQ decided to stick with their own 'delusion'.

"Sooner or later. their ignorance will be their own grave."

Quietly, Hayate made a phone call on her terminal.

"Hello Alex." She greeted. "Is David awake?"

\/ /\ \/

Before the Witch's blue eyes was the opened light blue sky with scatter clouds.

Yokosuka. She faintly remembered the name of city in Fuso. It's a certain industrial city so which explain why there's many factories, hangars and ships parked along the river.

It's also the name of this naval base where Mirai was anchored here to resupply.

The impression of one military base was often about how spacious it was, given how personnel and moving vehicles were like little ants moving in a far distance.

After for good 10 minutes of walking aimlessly, Mobius 2 decided that's enough for her today exercise.

A wooden bench located right under a green tree was too tempting for her to pass.

She sat down. The feel of comfy was too good.

"The weather is nice. I think I'll have a good nap here…"

She closed her eyes, hoping a day would simply pass by without waking her up…

"Ano…" A voice called out softly.

"Hmm?"

Mobius 2 opened her eyes, looking at one certain short, curly, brown-haired girl. Given the jumpsuit she was wearing, she's probably a reservist, or how 'green' she was.

"Ano! You're…a Witch...Mobius 2? Right?" asked the girl.

"Uh-huh." Mobius 2 nodded.

"I knew it!"

The girl's face quickly brightened up, like today would be the best day for her.

"Oh excuse me!" The Fuso girl promptly saluted to the silver-haired with high respect. "I'm Ensign Yukari!"

"You have suppressed the rebel base on one of our small islands. Thank you for hard work!" "

Mobius 2 took notice that the ensign was not mentioning about the recent base attack along with the cruise missiles.

 _I guessed it was remained a secret._

Noticing Mobius 2 was relaxing on the bench, the ensign quickly said.

"Oh I'm sorry! I must be bothering you. I will leav—"

*Growl~!*

Mobius 2's body was royal to its needs.

"Hungry..." She muttered.

"Oh, you must be hungry, right? Please allow me to guide you to the mess hall!"

…

…

The mass hall was usually empty except the operating hours, however, with the presence of having 108th Task Force staying as guests, the room was filled with a large number of people. Some decided to play cards, or eat the meal. Which put the kitchen staff to work around the clock to make more portion, the Fuso food was a popular choice for the allied force after all.

"Omega 11 got dumped. Omega 11 got dumped~"

The members of Wild Badgers platoon were teasing the poor Britanian male pilot.

"I didn't get dumb, you arse!" Omega 11 retorted.

"Of course. Of course, different designated air base." Rico said.

"Still got dumbed." Blake said.

"Oh, shut up!"

While the girls were enjoying Omega 11's annoyed expression, Rico, the red-haired spotted a certain silver-haired was accompanied with someone else.

"Well-well-well, look who's here?" Rico said. "It's our reckless ribbon princess."

"Look at that, she has her own entourage this time." Violet said.

"I want one too." Amber said, showing a little jealous.

"Ano…Who are you guys?" Yukari asked.

"I'm glad that you've asked!" Rico puffed her 'humble' chest up proudly.

"Girls!"

Once more, the Wild Badgers put up their own iconic posture.

"Rico!" "Violet!" "Amber!" "The Black Death bringer, Blake!"

"..." "..." "..."

All three stared at their dark-haired member with a most dumbfounded look.

"What?" asked the dark-haired.

"What the hell was that?!" Rico cried out. "Are you intend to gloat yourself over us!?"

"Well I feel it's imperative that our posture is in need of change." Blake explained.

"I think it's good enough."

"No, I think she is right." Amber agreed. "We do need a…new change."

"I second that." Violet joined in.

"So…it's treason then." Rico glared at them,

"I think that's pretty cool though." The Fuso girl said.

""Which part?!"" The fours asked.

As the atmosphere was getting riled up by the girls' talking, Mobius 2 decide to get some chow for her growling stomach.

"Oh-ho-ho," Mobius 2 looked up from her side, seeing a certain elderly woman. She dressed with a few layers of clothes to keep herself warm from the AC.

"Want...some?" She spoke slow but with a clear voice as she was handing out an orange-flavored milk bottle.

"Yes please." Mobius 2 preferred the strawberry flavor though, regardless, she took the bottle from the elder's hand.

"Ah, Obaa-san!"

"Yukari-chan. Irasai, irasai (Welcome, welcome)."

"Moo~ you always managed to sneak in. Come now, I'll escort you out. This place is never meant for civilian anyway."

"Eh, I'm not that senile yet, you dork."

"Come on."

Soon, the Fuso girl lead the elderly out of the mess hall.

"It's good." Mobius 2 commented after she took a sip of it.

The TV volume was suddenly got louder as the crew were focusing what was on the screen: The Sky Race.

An introduction clip run with catchy music as it's showing many faces young Witches along with their propeller-type Striker, painted in camo style or colorful/girly design.

« Alright! Alright! Let's give it to our wild and untamed Witches! »

The screen showed a certain Liberion Witch dressed boldly in hotpants and Liberion flag-printed bikini top.

« She is young yet her boundless energy had put many to shame. Daisy, the Mustand! » She blew a kiss in front of the camera as it was panning out on her.

Next up, was a tomboy-cut girl with a pale complexion.

« Steel in her bone and water of the North in her veins. She is Nikki, the Glacé. »

After that, a tall dark-skinned girl with purple hair.

« Just one look and she's gone. Another look and there she is. Right behind your back! Maple, the Mirage! »

The introduction continued on with a few racers to which Mobius 2 lose interested, so she decided to eat. Oh, that tasty looking crunchy fried chicken.

« And...finally, our newest rising star that taking the first step into the big league…Reiko Nagase! »

 _Nagase?_

Before Mobius 2 could look up to see that person's face, the channel already switched to a new program. There was a small commotion between two parties who want to watch their own channel. With a small sigh, she returned back to her meal tray.

"You're Mobius 2, right?" asked the voice with Fuso's accent.

 _Another one?_

Mobius 2 turned to the voice's owner. From the first impression, everyone could tell she was a Fuso Witch, having the Miko-like attire, and also…a katana was hanging on her waist.

Beside the serious impression on the girl's face, she had a beautiful, silky long black hair was tied into a ponytail.

"Yes?" The silver-haired answered.

Without a warning, the Fuso Witch drew the katana from her scabbard. The tip of the blade was very close to Mobius 2's sleepy face, which quickly shifted to a fully awake/stunned one.

Everyone nearby was also shocked by the developing event.

"Shoubu da! (I challenge you!)" She declared.

And she thought today was supposed to be a peaceful day.

...

...

"Ah Mobius 2. How are yo..."

I stopped my greeting as soon as I noticed something was wrong. The silver-haired girl was making the fast approaching toward me. Quickly like a squirrel, she put herself right behind my back.

"Mobius 2, w-what wrong…"

I soon learned why.

"Why are you running?" called the voice that belonged to a certain Fuso Witch carrying a katana in her hand.

"Why are you running?"

Am I about to be cut down by a Fuso Witch?

"THAT'S THE ONE, OFFICERS. GET HER!" Rico shouted out. There were a few MPs with her.

"Hey you! Stop right where you are!"

...

...

"So...the thing that you're about to be 'hacked' by a Fusoan's sword was not a joke." Mobius 1 said.

"It's not." Mobius 2 curly replied.

I was almost laughed by the siblings' exchange. After the whole…ordeal, we returned back to the mess hall, along with the Fusoan Witch who was placed with the charge of murder (supposedly).

"Ano…everyone what is going on…" The short-haired Fuso girl returned after she had escorted the elder to elsewhere. She found quite a gathering in the room and soon noticed a certain person placed at the center of attention.

"H-Hijikata-taichou (Captain Hijikata)!?"

"Ah, Yukari." The pony-tailed greeted nonchalantly.

"You know this person?" Mobius 2 asked. Somehow the two was already acquainted.

"O-Of course, she is my superior!"

"Your superior certainly has a strange habit of cutting people down for no reason."

"Eh? Eehhh? Eeeehhhhhhhhhh?!" The girl exclaimed.

"C-Captain Hijikata would do no such thing…well…" Somehow, the flustered girl stopped there, showing hesitation before she finally said this.

"Uhm…well...a little bit..."

 ** _She admitted it!_**

Everyone made the same thought.

"It's just a friendly spat. A friendly spat." said the Witch. "You Liberions are always on the assumption too much."

"I'm sorry, who are you again?" asked Rico.

She then stood up as she began the introduction.

"Captain Ren Hijikata. Nice to meet you all." She bowed briefly.

"And I see that you already have met my Staff Sergeant."

"Damn, this sword is pretty nice looking." Omega 11 examined the blade without consulting anyone.

"That sword is..."

Even though it bore the distinctive shape like any other Fuso katana, I noticed something of it that was rather…stood out.

"Reppumaru." She answered. "It is the name of the sword, Reppumaru."

"Reppumaru…Is this the same one that actually can cut those behemoth-sized Neuroi in half?" I asked.

"Not 'can'. **Did**." She stated. "This is the very katana that was forged by my great grandma."

Omega 11 felt the sword's weight in his hands got heavier all of sudden…

"Not just behemoth-sized. I heard that it had cut a whole battleship!"

"The Yamato, right?"

"I thought it was some big ass Neuroi core or something."

"H-hold on. Now I remember! You're that Witch who cut down that steel door. Back on that island." Rico said. It prompted everyone memory to review back at that time.

"Oh yeah, she did cleave a drone in half with this sword…" Omega 11 realized the weapon in his hands was rather…unworthy for him to wield.

"And she intends to use _this_ to cut down Mobius 2?"

"..." "…" "…"

The imagination only made the person in subject groaned out of frustrated.

Omega 11 accidentally let the sword hit the floor, which promptly caused a jump to a few.

The Reppumaru owner soon placed the blade back into its sheath.

"So that means…are you, by any chance, related to Mio Sakamoto?" When I mentioned the name, it gained quite the attention in the room.

"Hahahaha!" The Fuso Witch laughed out loud. "You got me there. I'm her great grandchild."

"G-great grandchild?" "Mio Sakamoto?" "One of Witches of the 501st?"

The others muttered among themselves.

"Oh wow, she looks identical to her." Violet looked up on the Internet and quickly saw the similarity between the one stood before her and the one on the picture taken in 1945. The only different was that the current one didn't have an eyepatch.

"That's some genes for you." Amber said.

"So why the name is Hijikata…oh right, she is married." Rico said.

"That's right. Sakamoto was her maiden name." Ren confirmed. "She went by Hijikata after the war."

"However, my duty as a Witch remained. Like my mother, and my grandma have taught me."

"The way of Bushidou."

"Bu-shi-do?" Rico asked.

"It's a type of code of conduct. Samurai thing." I explained. "There're eight virtues."

"First is Justice. Courage. Compassion. Respect. Integrity. Honor. Loyalty. And Self-control."

"I think she's violated the last one though." Mobius 1 said.

"True…" I nodded quietly.

"One sword keeps another in the sheath." Ren continued.

"A warrior and a philosopher." I was impressed.

"More like a mental." Rico quickly averted her eyes from the Fuso Witch's gaze.

"This is the tool of justice. To protect everyone."

"Justice…It sure feels good when you say that..." Mobius 2 muttered.

"?" I was rather found it's odd by what she said.

"Ah, and you must be Mobius 1." Ren took notice of the male pilot. "It is an honor to make your acquaintance."

"Likewise." Both of them shook hand.

"It is a pity that we could not contribute our aid to Stonehenge assault." Ren said.

Maybe it's my imagination, but I felt, the mood was…changed to…negative.

"…" There's a brief pause before Mobius 1 said.

"…Yeah. I share the same feel like you."

The man smiled.

It's a forced smile.

As for Mobius 2…she only gave a fixed look down to the floor, to her dangling feet.

"Oh right, back to the matter at hand." Ren turned to the silver-haired Witch. And once more, the blade was unsheathed.

"Shoubu da!" She declared.

"Why?!" Nico and others cried out while Mobius 2 only let out a big sweat drop.

"Because I've heard about her deeds." Ren said. "Beside being a Witch along with a fighter. It's rather a rare combination. So I'm curious to see what's she capable of."

"You can just…sit down and talk?" I suggested an idea.

"My father have always said: 'When you want to know what's inside the hardest shell, you have to crack it open to see it'."

"Uhm…her parents are certainly…eccentric." Rico spoke up what's on their mind.

"…Alright, I'll do it."

Mobius 2 answer was rather unexpected as everyone went gasp.

"That...is what I'd love to say. Unfortunately, my Striker is not available right now. I think we ca—"

"Hahaha! Not to worry. we can let you borrow our Striker. I also wear the same thing." She said it flatly.

"…"

Mobius 2's plan to escape from this troublesome Witch was already backfired.

"So, what kind of match do you want to challenge me?" She continued.

\/ /\ \/

The news traveled faster than a wild fire.

All personnel, both from 108th Task Force and Yokosuka base, had learned of the challenge match between a Fuso Witch and an ARRF Witch.

The type of the match that decided was a racing one.

While some would prefer the shooting one, the challenged party made clear that by no circumstance that the other party shall draw the blade and do whatever 'one-hit-KO' power on her.

Still, no matter, the betting was enthusiastically being placed with their chump of money.

'Make the most out of it before it dues'. That's pretty much the spirit of every personnel in the army, regardless of nation.

The runway was swarmed with everyone presence. They're cheering to their own contender.

Both of them equipped the same Striker, F-15J model. And each carried their own weapon of choice, Ren's was Type 89. Mobius 2's was Mk 14 EBR.

All loaded with a drum mag.

"Ah~ where is my peaceful day?" Mobius 2 sighed, looking up at the clear blue sky with dazzling sun.

"That's called life, little sis." Mobius 1 said. "Or may be…karma."

"Go get her, Mobius 2!"

"Farmer-san! Show what we Fuso can do!" shouted out a Fuso pilot.

"Farmer?" Rico and other caught wind of it.

"What kind of TAC name is that?" "What's the story behind it?"

Once their Strikers finished being prepped, the two Witches summoned their familiar. Like her great grandmother, Doberman ears and tail popped up on Ren's proportions.

She then turned to Mobius 2 with a question in mind.

"Now that I think about it. I haven't learned of your TAC name yet."

"It's Mobius 2." She answered it right away.

"Souka (Is that so)? Easy to remember." The Fuso accepted it easily.

« Exercise flight number eighty-four...Commencing! »

 **[BGM: AC2 - Lightning Speed]**

Following the operator's words, the utility holder released the locks. The moment it did so, both Witches launched away with bullet speed.

Despite wearing the same Strikers, same specs, the Fuso Witch already took the lead. The ARRF Witch showed no sign struggle, or rather, she maintained a moderate distance between them.

The terrain was an opened blue sea, however, the Witch's headgear HUD had put them to fly into through the designed course which bore a lot of floating circles.

To add more challenge, the Fuso decided to put a few guided missile destroyers acting as obstacles in the race.

« Here they come. » said a Fuso XO.

« Copy. Open fire. »

The CWIS on board came to life as it quickly unleashed a barrage of bullet at the approaching Witches. To break off the sense of life-threating, all projectiles were ball-shaped bullets packed with color paint, but it still hurt if you got hit.

Both the Fuso Witch and ARRF Witch passed them all with agile, however, Mobius 2 was held back a bit as she occasionally put up the shield to protect herself.

« Checkpoint 2 passed. Farmer is in the lead! » The Fusoans cheered out.

Next up, the balloon shooting.

Hey, who said that this was simply a race?

Around 50 or more target balloons have set up in the area.

Farmer aimed her battle rifle and opened fire. While firing, she aggressively charged in with bayonet, slashing the balloons left and right as she run them through.

Contrast to Farmer style, Mobius 2 kept moving while pressing the trigger. Sending round after round onto the designated targets.

"Pretty aggressive there." Farmer commented.

Because of her wild yet steady shooting, Mobius 2 has cleared all the targets before Farmer.

« Checkpoint 3. Mobius 2 is now in the lead! »

« Alright! »

« Keep going girl! »

The last one was an all-out race. There's no need to hold back as both contenders poured their magic into their Striker to pushed through the air resistance.

 _Almost there…_

Fast and smooth, both contenders flew through the floating hologram rings that created by their headgear.

However, when the silver-haired Witch had passed through another ring, she noticed something that her rival did not.

Not a moment too soon, Mobius 2 did something that no one could have foreseen.

« Mobius 2 is...leaving from her designated flying course! »

« Something's wrong with her Striker? »

…

…

Noticed the happening, Farmer decided to stop to check up her rival. It didn't take long for her to notice the same thing that Mobius 2 did.

"You certainly have got a keen eye for this." She was impressed.

« Farmer, what's going on over there? »

"This is Farmer to Base. I've got two civilians are lost in the woods. Two females. One of them is appeared to be injured. Mobius 2 has moved in to assist them. Sending the coordinate now."

…

…

"The rescue helicopter will be here soon. So please hang in there." Ren talked to the two civilians. One of them, who appeared to be a mother of the tearful girl, was cut her leg due to the falling, she was bleeding but Mobius 2 quickly did some first aid kit.

"Arigatou gozaimasu. Arigatou gozaimasu!" The daughter thanks her saviors.

Ren returned to Mobius 2's side who watched the calm scenery bathed in the orange sun silently.

"You did a pretty good job there." Ren said. "My thanks to you."

"No problem."

"The weather is pretty nice. Hey, how about we—"

Without a warning, Mobius 2 increased her Striker's output and took off.

"Eh?" Ren's dumbfounded expression was the same as everyone back at the base.

A good minute later, Mobius 2 went through the finish line.

"I won." She declared as she put up the V sign, with a face remained passive as ever.

"…" "…" "…" "…" "…"

Even though the winner of the race has been decided like that, many was seeing this win, was not genuine. Or rather...cheated.

"Man, somebody is gonna commit sudoku tonight." Omega 11 said.

"Sudoku?" Rico was puzzled.

"You own me twenty." Mobius 1 smiled as others were grimaced.

"Money opportunity, baby!"

…

…

The rescue helicopter soon retrieved the pair of civilians and returned back to the same base where the ambulance was waiting.

"Mama. Please hang in there." The daughter encouraged, however the mother was showing a lot of pain.

"She lost quite a lot of blood." said the female nurse.

"Quick, prepare the emergency transfusion. We nee—"

"Are you alright, dear?"

Out of nowhere, a certain elder took many by surprise.

"That old lady." Mobius 2 recognized she was the one who gave her that orange-flavored milk.

"Ma'am. I'm gonna need you to step back…"

Before the staff could push the elder away, a dim glowing of magical sphere was expanded right beneath their feet. With a pair of ears and tail were summoned on the old lady, she placed her both hands on the bloody wound.

It was a scene that everyone was stunned, unable to say to say anything as they stood there, watch in awe as the glowing sphere surrounded between the old lady and the wounded.

The opened wound was soon closed and disappeared. The mother's expression showed less agonic.

"Mama!" The daughter hugged her mother out of relief.

 _Healing spell?_ Mobius 2 was impressed. _It's amazing she is able to retain her power like that at her age._

The day soon ended, much to Mobius 2's dissatisfaction because she wasn't able to spend a whole day to sleep.

\/ /\ \/

Stonehenge Assault.

My curiousity got the best of me when heard that name again, so I decided to look it up.

It's a topic that many knew, but none want to share or talk it like for…some conversation.

Operation Grip and Release.

After the declaration of war, Liberion immediately launched the first attack onto Erusea's soil.

They had two primary targets:

Farbanti, the Capital of Erusea.

Stonehenge Site No. 3.

Liberion had hoped to bring these targets down as swiftly as possible, in order to pressure the Erusean Royalty to come into term of cease fire.

However, in the first hour of attacking the Stonehenge, Liberion's attack force was nearly wiped out.

Many decorated aces in Liberion air force who were assigned to attack the Stonehenge were shot down.

B52 bombers that ordered to bomb Farbanti were all decimated by its defenders.

The Grip and Release Operation ended in a total disaster. Following it was the might and fierce Erusean army came and conquer the unprepared neighboring countries. Britannia, Baltland, Romagnia, and a small eastern part of Karlsland. Their defense lines were what stopping the Kingdom of Erusea from the complete control of Western Europe.

Many believed that they're lost due to the terrifying power of the railguns. However, the reality was different.

The report was not official, but there's a handful of eyewitnesses saying that in the Stonehenge assault, they faced powerful Erusean Witches.

One particular word that kept popping up those reports.

Yellow.

There's a taken photo, unfortunately, the man's hands must have been too shaking back then to take it properly. It's just a blurry photo, bearing the same effect like those UFO photos. At least I was made it out some of the details.

A long-haired Witch equipped a Striker, model Su-37, painted with bright yellow color.

…

…

We're soon departed for Indoan Commonwealth. A few colleagues who stationed there reported that a few terrorist activities were popping up.

Just when I thought to myself this would be a calm voyage, the sound of alarm abruptly sounded off.

« General Quarter. General Quarter. All hands man your battle stations. This is not a drill. »

It took me about a full minute to realize what's really happening, I then quickly rushed up to the top side.

« I say again. All hands man your battle stations. This is not a drill. »

All personnel were gunning to their own position as Omega team was preparing to be launched.

"Scramble all available fighters!" A runway crew leader shouted out. "Prepare the Striker Units for the Witches as well!"

"What happened?" I asked one of the crew.

"It's an air raid!" He said with whatever breath still have inside him.

"Tokyo is under attack!"

…


	6. Mission 04: Battle for Tokyo

When I was young, I used to learn that the world was more...simple.

Our enemies were invaders from the outer space.

The mankind was backed into a corner, but then…

We persisted.

We held our ground.

We fought.

We triumphed.

From the moment we're born, we're destined to fight.

It's a tough time back then.

But the reason to fight was clear.

We faced a common enemy.

We fight to protect what's dear to us.

It's Good versus Evil.

But now…

For some reason…

We pointed our weapons at each other.

Human are truly foolish...

…

« All pilots and Witches, report to the hangar immediately. This is not a drill. »

The PA voice continued to say coldly while the buzzing sound of alarm was ringing.

Mobius 2 looked at the long blue ribbon in her hand.

"Big sis..."

...

* * *

 **MISSION 4**

 **BATTLE FOR TOKYO**

 **1715hrs. August 29th, 2019**

 **Tokyo / / 35° 41′ 23" N 139° 41′ 32" E**

 **Cloud Cover: Scattered**

\/ /\ \/

Above the calm sea that bathed in the orange sun, a large number of fighters consisted of Dassault Rafale Ms, F/A 18E/Fs and F-14s were flying in formation.

Among them there were three young girls, who renowned as Witches thanks to the iconic Striker Unit strapped around their legs, in the element with other planes.

Omega squadron; Green Tails; Mobius team and Esteri team. They're all servicemen of ARRF (Allied Rapid Reaction Forces), formed by NUN (Neo United Nations), which also known as Task Force 108th.

They were making haste toward one destination: Tokyo, the capital of Fuso.

The mood was somewhat heavy among the flights. Couldn't blame them. After all, they have just left that oriental country just 5 hours ago. Suddenly they have to turned their ship around as soon as they received a distress signal.

They're ordered to launch away without any briefing while fully armed.

Fortunately, the additional new Super Hornets had arrived on time to replace the outdated Phantom IIs, so it's a good edge that the pilots of 108 needed, and for a certain silver-haired Witch as well, with a new Striker Unit model bearing the same name and characteristic design.

« Due to the pressing circumstance, Hexer will be giving the briefing directly. » Sky Eye radioed in. « Hexer, you have the comms. »

A calm female voice soon followed.

« The Tokyo, no…the entire Fuso country is currently under attack by unknown forces. Initial reports saying many Fuso garrisons are attacked by a group of UAVs. »

« Goddamn, drones again?! » Omega 11 exclaimed. So did a few.

« Taking advantage of the situation, the insurgents, we believe, are conducting a massive scale of attacking the Tokyo city by land, air and even from the sea. »

« What the hell? »

« Omega 11. Keep it down! » Omega leader told.

« As of now. We, the 108th Task Force have been ordered to move into Tokyo. The situation there is critical with widespread panic. »

« The FDF (Fuso Defense Forces) and a detachment of NUN troop stationed there are already working with local authority in evacuating the civilians. »

« Liberion 3rd Fleet is also on its way to help, but they're still far away. So at this moment, we're the only available force they have. »

« What about Yokosuba base? It's the closest. » Mobius 1 asked. « Don't tell me… »

« Yes. » Hexer went straight for the point. « Fuso Witches and pilots there are still fighting off those drones as we speak. »

« … » Mobius 2 let out an annoyed sigh.

Even though she didn't know them for long, but she silently prayed for their safety.

« My feeling is as same as yours. However, the lives of Tokyo people are our priority. And we will assist the defenders and drive these insurgents out. »

« First, we need to establish the landing point. »

« A group of enemy vessels have sealed off the bay. They're your first objective. »

« Clear the blockage. »

« Once you're done. Our ground force can move in and assist the FDF with the evacuation and counter attack the invaders. »

« All 108th fighters and Witches will focus on destroying the hostiles in the city. »

« This will be a punishing battle. But if we don't do this, who will? »

« Put a stop to this whatever terrorist attack is. And one more thing. Return back here alive, all of you...Good luck. »

As soon as Hexer was done, Sky Eye continued on.

« A Fuso squadron is already engaged the hostiles above the capital, but they're overwhelmed by the enemy's number. »

« You guys will arrive in the middle of the action... » Sky Eye then stopped. « I've got two blips on the radar. IFF is responding. »

« Hey, nuggets of 108th, you copy? We're approaching at your six. » A voice radioed in.

« Who is that? » asked Fencer, aka Green Tails 2.

« I recognize that voice. » Mobius 1 said.

They soon spotted the ASF-X Shinden II, a Fuso developed Advanced Support Fighter which had joined them in one operation.

Beside the dark-colored Shinden II, there was a certain plane that was quite rather old. Old enough that there were a few of them already to put inside the museum, F-5E Tiger II.

« That's a strange pair. » Archer, aka Green Tails 1 commented.

« Hey old man, what happened to your other plane? » asked Mobius 1.

« Hehe, I decided to go for the nostalgia for today. » The pilot with a callsign: Viper, answered it casually. « So I gave mine to her. »

« I'm sorry Captain. It's my fault, you should have fly this instead. » radioed Edge, his wingman.

A few could have guessed that Edge's damaged Shinden II was not able to repair in time. Especially in this emergency calling.

« Can it, Nagase. » Viper said.

« It's just a plane. Besides, this baby girl is crying, wanting to get some action so I grant her wish. »

Mobius 1 spotted a certain emblem placed by the F-5 nose, a playing card (the ace of hearts) cleaved by a dagger.

« Heartbreak…is that what symbol mean? »

« Ahh, it's just an old war wound now. » He sighed.

Mobius 2 silently nodded to Edge who returned the same manner.

« Oh, you have the new Striker now. A Super Hornet, just like your brother's. » Edge said, looking at the blue-ribbon emblem painted on Mobius 2's Striker was the same one on Mobius 1's F/A 18E's tails.

« Yeah, remind me of how you have trashed the old ones, I better not letting you touch my baby girl. » Viper said with a wary tone.

Hearing that, Mobius 2 decided to tease him by approaching closer to his plane with her opened palm.

« Hey-hey. No touching. Shoo-shoo. » Viper pulled his plane away from her.

Everyone in the flying formation abruptly burst out with laughter and chuckle.

The heavy mood was no longer there.

« You know what? It's good that you guys showed up. » Omega 11 appreciated it.

« So how about a competition then? » Viper made a challenge.

« Sounds good to me! »

« Tokyo, dead ahead. » Esteri 1 aka Ice Tea said.

« Mio Dio (My god)! The city is burning. » Coffee, the tan-skinned Witch exclaimed.

« Fishbeds, Phantoms…a lot of them out there. » Mobius 2 said, looking up the sky. The hostile aircrafts were circling around the city like vultures.

« This is Sky Eye to all fights. You have permission to engage all hostiles above and in Tokyo. »

« Let's focus on clearing the coast line. » said Archer 1.

« Begin the attack! » Omega 1 gave the order to his squadron.

« Let's do this, Mobius 2. » said the ribbon pilot.

« After you. » replied the ribbon Witch.

Mobius team dived close to the water, multiple gunboats within their sight were all struck down before they even knew it.

« I've got three Corvettes and at least a dozen of gunboats on my radar. »

« I got a lock. Gun. Gun! » The green-colored tail Rafale M swooped down and up like a hawk, leaving destruction in their path.

« Are they really some rebel? Not when they have this much assets and troops at their disposal. » Edge was amazed by the amount of rebel troops on land and at sea.

« This is like fighting a whole army out there. » Mobius 1 agreed.

« Are they Erusean troops? » Edge asked.

« Negative. I don't see any orange flag. » Viper said.

« And I see no drones either. » Omega 11 said. « Seriously, what's the deal with those drones any way? Even the rebels we captured didn't know a single thing about them. »

« Destroy all enemy vessels. » Sky Eye repeated the objective. « We need to secure the coast line so our ground force can move in. »

« And make sure to leave some fun for the rest of us. » Rico radioed in.

« Not to worry, there's still a lot on the plate by the time you arrived, _Habanero_. » Ice Tea reassured as she and her wingman were taking position to attack with their anti-materiel rifle.

« Don't call me that! » The girl really hated that nickname.

« We interrupt this program for an emergency news report. » The broadcast was heard on the opened channel.

« Tokyo is currently under attack by unidentified enemy… »

« Who the hell are these guys? » asked a radioed voice which belonged to a police officer.

« I don't know! They just appeared right in the middle of street. And start shooting at anybody. »

« For the Troia! » A powerful voice cried out.

« Let them know our own suffer! Make them feel it! »

« March on, my brothers! March on! »

« We need air support! They're everywhere! » An FDF soldier cried out over the radio.

Their prayer was quickly answered when an F-14 of Green Tails had destroyed two ground vehicles.

« Hey, look up there! It's the reinforcement. We're saved! »

« It's ARRF! Good thing that they're nearby. »

« There's so many of them. » Edge felt a little overwhelmed, looking at all marked targets appeared all over the HUD. It even showed that the insurgents have set up some AA guns on high-stories building.

« You don't need to try and target at every enemy. » said Viper. « Just maintain your focus. Take one target out at a time. »

« Roger that, Cap. » Edge replied, never more she felt depending on him.

« Focus. Control. Conviction. Resolve. » Viper continued. « A true ace lacks none of these attributes. Nothing can deter you from the task at hand except your own fears. This is your sky. »

« Quite a poem. You sure you have signed up for the right job? » asked Mobius 1.

« Ah, shut up! You nuggets are just nuggets in my book. »

« This is Ice Tea to all planes. Watch out for those cargo ships in the bay. They're hostiles! »

« Man, it like they use whatever they have in their inventory to stage this attack. » Omega 5 groaned.

« This is Mirai to Mobius 2 and Esteri team. Beam the target for us so we can send the payload. »

« Copy. » Esteri 2 used the laser attachment and pointed it at one hostile container ship.

« Beaming the target! »

« Target acquired. »

Back to the Mirai's runway, two hatches were opened, allowing Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles launched from the tube.

« Package away. »

A minute later, the Tomahawks struck, ripping off the ship in half.

« Hostile container ship sunk. » Sky Eye reported.

To protect the friendly aircraft above, Mobius 2 charged in, firing at the enemy who was carrying portable anti-air weapon.

The Witches repeated the process. Mobius 1 and Zero team contributes the kill along the way, which soon knocked out all hostile ships in the bay.

« Alright! Enemy destroyer sunk! » Viper reported.

« The harbor is clear. With this, our ground force can finally move in. » Sky Eye said.

The LCACs soon reached the dock and unloaded their passengers.

« This is Dachshund Platoon. Thank you for rolling the red carpet for us. »

« Yeah. Yeah. Enjoy the movie. » Omega 11 said.

« Let's get this show on the road! » Rico along with her girls rolled their Striker into the city.

« They even got the Ground Witches. » Edge muttered.

« This is Task Force 108 affiliated to NUN. » Sky Eye made a contact to a friendly on the ground. « We will assist you with the evacuation. »

« Thank you so much! We thought we're all alone. » said an FDF officer.

« Enemy reinforcement. I think they just came from the sea. » An insurgent scout reported back to his command.

« Impossible. What happen to our blockage? Try to contact them now. »

« This is our capital! We are not letting these degenerates do whatever they please! » An FDF soldier said.

« Yeah, I say we teach them some manner before we kick them out! »

The man's words were returned with spirited laughs. The morale of defenders was rising.

« Okay guys, let's make some breathing room for our friend here. »

« Ooh-rah! »

Soon, the Dachshund platoon along with Wild Badgers formed a defensive line while their air force was dealing with the hostiles.

Mobius 1 did his work by taking out an aggressor MiGs off the friendly F-15J's tails.

« Whoever flying in that ribbon plane. You have my gratitude. » said the Fuso pilot.

« Not bad, kid. » Viper was impressed.

« What about me? » asked Mobius 2, who just took down a Phantom.

« Oh right, you. Well, your machine gun fire could use a little work. Hahaha! »

« … » She felt a little regret/embarrassed. She really shouldn't have asked him.

« This is FASDF309. Thank you for the assist. » The FDF pilot radioed in.

The Fuso squadron was soon relieved by 108 fighters. While the sky was gradually clearing of bandits, the fighting on Tokyo streets were remained intensified.

« Hostile between the buildings. They even got heavy MG set up by the road! » A scout recon reported to Dachshund 2.

« I see it. Fire! »

« We've got enemy tank on the road. » A rebel vanguard reported.

« Roger. Fall back. Our RPG team will take care of it. »

« They're falling back. Pretty fast too. » said a Marine.

« Careful. These rebels are not some angry mob carrying pitch fork. They are well-trained and discipline. » An FDF soldier fighting alongside them gave a warning.

« Tokyo is a densely populated urban center with a skyline of skyscrapers. Watch out for them as they can block your attacks at ground targets. » Sky Eye gave the advice.

Mobius 1 began to perform the ground attack from high altitude. His attack style was quickly analyzed by Zero 2.

« Updating Combat Data. » Edge said, checking the instrument.

Once the software was done installing, Edge performed the attack move according to the HUD system suggestion. She was able to take down two targets located in between tall buildings.

« Now that's nice trick. » Archer couldn't help but wanting to fly it.

« Jeez. This city is built like a maze. » Amber said as she was moving on the street surrounded by many tall buildings with vigilant.

« What's wrong, Amber? I thought you love visiting the Fuso. » Blake said.

« As a…tourist, yeah! »

The roar of jet engine above left quite an impression like an earth quake.

« Fencer. Fox 2! »

The missile struck hard on the AA gun emplacement set up on a building's roof top, which caused a number of debris falling down to friendly troops below, particularly the Wild Badgers.

« Hey Green Tails, be careful! » Rico spat out. « We have many wounded here and we don't need those raining debris on top of us! »

« Very sorry about that, honey. I'll make it up for you tonight. » Archer said in a sultry voice, which made Rico a little nervous.

« Uhm…no thanks! »

« Enemy force is down to 80%. Things are going well for us. » Sky Eye said.

« Put your back into it, men. If we get through this, sushi are on me! » A friendly troop declared.

« Like you have money for that. »

…

…

"I somehow managed to evacuate everyone down to the metro. I just have hope they don't drop a bomb on us now." A young member of Fuso SAT (Special Assault Team) said as he was reuniting with other members.

"Hey, don't temp it." The second man said.

"Guys, check this out." A third member called out as he was near to a fallen rebel course.

"What? His weapon?"

"No, check out his armband. Some kind of symbol." The two approached closer to see it.

"Hmm…some sort of T letter?"

"It more like a face…a spartan face wearing a helmet."

Then a noise, the SAT members spotted a certain civilian was stumbling, his head was still covered in a hoodie.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Before the Private could approach, the civvie, who they assumed, abruptly made a run toward at them with a loudest voice from the top of his lung.

 **"SALVA _TIOOONNNNN!_ "**

"Look out! He's got a bomb vest. He's got a bomb vest!"

"Shoot him. Shoot him **down!"**

The young private opened fire, but due to the initial shock, his aim was unsteadied. A few shots just grazed the bomber, and hit the torso. However, the man continued run toward them with a scream.

 **"SALVA _TIOOON—"_**

Before the crazy man could press the trigger, his brain and other organs was already splattered all over the street by the large calibers.

The dumfounded SAT members look up to where they heard some rumbling engine.

She was a silver-haired Witch wearing a blue ribbon.

"A Witch?"

"You guys alright?" She asked.

"Y-yeah, we good."

"Just leave this area to us."

"Don't worry, we will do just that. Come on." The SAT men then oscar mike back to their friendly unit.

When the men have disappeared from her sight, Mobius 2 looked back to the corpse.

Despite the body was...'missing' some part, the bomb vest was still fully active. Silently, Mobius 2 approached to the body.

She drew her combat knife and cut the connecting wires.

The smell of iron hit her nostrils strong, but Mobius 2 remained unfazed, or rather, she decided it's a thing that she shouldn't be bothered with.

 _Just like back then._

When she finally removed the bomb vest, she noticed the symbol on the armband.

"!?"

Her heart rate spiked up.

The bad dream. It came back to her once more.

Burning.

Fire consumed everything.

The people. They were angry. They carried torches, pitchfork, guns, and whatever tool that can be used as a weapon.

The banner that they united, was this very same symbol. The stylized silhouette of a Spartan helmet.

« Mobius 2. Are you there? »

"…"

« Mobius 2. »

The calling pulled her mind back to the reality.

"I-I'm here."

« Are you alright, Mobius 2? You ran out of magic? »

"...Negative. I'm still combat able."

« There's an AA gun emplacement in the central park. Go there and take it out so our allied can deploy some rescue helicopters. »

"Copy. I'm on it."

…

…

"Take cover!"

In a brief of moment of dirt blowing right in the face by the impact of machine gun's bullets. A mass of steel that walked on two legs appeared before the Marines who were taking in cover.

"Take cover?" said the twin-tailed redhead. "HELL NO! I'll take it head on!"

"Fire! Shoot at the Witch!"

The enemy troops fired RPGs.

With a deployed shield, she easily pounded the rockets off like a tennis racket.

Following Rico's counter, the Fuso MBT Type 90 fired a HE shell at the rebel's barricade.

« The enemy blockage is destroyed. Push forward! » The friendly armored unit advanced.

« The FDF is breaking through. Fire! » The insurgent put the attempt to stop them.

« We almost got this sector under our control. »

« The enemy's control has been broken. You can do it! » Edge encouraged her people below while she was taking out the enemy MiGs, providing cover for Green Tails to do ground strike.

« Most of our tanks and combat vehicles are knocked out! They're taken out by enemy's air support! »

« Is that…a ribbon? »

« What's the status of our AA guns? …What do you mean they are all destroyed?! »

« Keep suppressing fire on those Witches. Their shields don't hold out that long. »

« Hey, who are those Ground Witches getting ahead of us? » asked FDF soldier.

« Those are your power rangers! » A Marine answered. « Don't just stand there like some background characters. Move in! »

« Warning. A column of enemy heavy armors just rolled out from the main tunnel. » Sky Eye updated the battle situation.

« This is Unit 5. We are being overrun by enemy armors. Need help immediately! »

« Shit! We are too far from there. We wouldn't make it. » Rico cursed.

Before the rebel heavy armors could form into a formation, they're bombarded by artillery.

Many were surprised, wondering who had fired. Soon, a new voice radioed in.

« This is FS Mashu. I hope we're not late for the party. »

On the far side of the bay, five Fuso-affiliated cruise missile destroyers were moving in a single line with their armament pointing toward the city.

« It's Fuso navy! » Coffee exclaimed.

« They are able to reorganized their force. » Ice Tea said, feeling the spirit was lifting up.

« We need target coordinate for the accurate fire support. » The captain of the ship contacted.

« This is Sky Eye to Mobius 2 and Esteri team. I leave the observation job to you. Beam at the thickest formation where it hurt them most. »

The Witches quickly followed Sky Eye's directive.

« Target locked. Enjoy the firework. » said FS Mashu.

« Sayonara! » Omega 11 said.

Not a moment too soon, the enemy armors were reduced to scrap by the missiles like Zeus' lightning bolts.

« Good job girls. » said Sky Eye. « The city defenders won't get a headache from those threats any longer. »

« I'm seeing hostile ground force deployed over there too. I'm taking them out. » Edge said.

« Hehe, not if I can help it, you. » Viper said.

« The enemy strength is down to 50%. Keep going strong! »

« How can this be? Those government puppets have humiliated us! »

« I don't think we can do this anymore, we have to fall back. »

The voices bearing the defeated tone were changing the situation for the attackers.

« The rebel force is retreating. We did it! »

Just when the cheering began to arise among the troops, Sky Eye promptly cut in.

« Warning! Incoming fast bogies. This is… »

...

...

Leaving the slashing trail of water upward violently as they went, they're flying machines, cold and nonliving. They're unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as UAV. Not too long ago, they're the invention by the military with the purpose of scouting.

Today, with cutting-edge technology, they can perform the aerial attack role like a manned fighter.

Deadly and effective. Even if they're shot down, there will be little emotion to spare since they can be rebuilt.

They can be replaced.

It's their purpose.

All they needed was an input of command code, or being guided by someone's control.

These W-shaped black metal UAVs were all followed one plane, one that stood out than the rest.

An aircraft bearing a purple-colored butterfly emblem on its tails.

« Begin countdown: 600 seconds. » The A.I voice reported to his master.

« Let's have some fun! » A voice of a teen girl spoke up.

...

...

"Warning! Incoming enemy reinforcement. Good lord, there's at least 20, 30, may be more, and they are coming right for us!" The bridge's crew reported to the Captain of Mashu.

"XO, I nee—"

The last thing that the Captain and his XO, along with every crew member stationed on the command bridge, they all saw a bright red beam was coming toward them.

 _FFZZZOOOMM!_

The command bridge was…cut down, in a literal sense. It cleaved off everything clean in it its path. The metal. The machine. And organic, human body parts were…disconnected.

 _FFZZZOOOMM!_

Another one. Then another. The two beams struck directly at the ship armory where the big explosion occurred, ripping the entire destroyer from inside out.

« …We have lost Mashu. She was blown up! » A friendly destroyer reported with horror and disbelief.

« Wait, what? »

« What happened? »

The news temporally shook everyone; however, the pilots resumed the attack on the new arrived enemies, who immediately greeted them with a dozen lines of beam spouting out from their nose.

« Woah! What? »

« Is that laser?! » Edge shouted out.

« Those UAVs, they are shooting laser! » Viper analyzed. « They have a laser weapon on their nose. »

« It's just like...Neuroi… » Ice Tea revealed a certain fact that imprinted much on everyone's mind when they're young. The black metal skin on each and every one of them were very similar.

« Those little bastards are different from before. » Omega 11 noticed the shape of the drones. They're looked resemblance to a 'W' letter.

« Eat this! » Omega 1 got a lock on and fired a missile right away.

The missile hit home, rendering the small craft to fall from the sky.

« Target hit. » Mobius 1 said.

« Alright! »

« No wait. Look at that. » Edge's saying stopped the squadron's premature celebrating.

The black drone was falling but it suddenly regained altitude and flew back right up. There was not a single sign of damage on the craft.

No. There _was_ , but it was dismissed away after it revealed a certain ability that denied all common sense and logic.

« The UAVs...they're self-regenerating!? » Omega 1 was astonished.

« Some sort of witch craft right there! » Omega 11 said.

« Could they actually be…Neuroi? » Ice Tea continued with her own speculation.

« No way mate, Neuroi has long gone **extinct**! » Omega 11 denied such a possibility.

« What are those monsters?! They are toying with us! » A Fuso sailor said.

« Counter them with CIWS! »

The whole sky was filled with tracers, many drones were hit and brought down, however, they're quickly regenerated back to the former state before they fell into the water and then flew toward the Fuso fleet.

« There are too many of them. Brace for impact! »

Simultaneously, the drones unleashed the beam, cutting two more Fuso destroyers brutally.

« Oh my god! » Coffee exclaimed, witnessing the friendly vessels were going down to the bottom of Tokyo Bay.

« They're cutting through the whole Fuso fleet like a hot knife through butter! »

« No. No. No! No! Somebody stops them! Anyone! » A distress voice cried out.

One more ship suffered the lethal beam attacks.

« Our ship is taking water... » The alarm sound on the ship almost drown over the man's voice.

« Those black drones are coming back around! » reported the lookout.

« Brace yourself! »

When the sailors prepared for the imminent doom, two figures of young girls, Ice Tea and Coffee, put themselves right in between with deployed magic shields to deflect the lasers.

« Good job! Esteri team. Protect the remaining Fuso destroyers. » Archer said.

« I have just got a word from Hexer. Continue on with the mission. Establish the air superiority. » Sky Eye gave the order. They fully aware the situation was changing for the worse, but the objective must be done.

« Scheiße! That's easy for her to say. » Green Tails 2 cursed.

« Fencer! » Archer called it out.

« Are those friendlies? Is that the reinforcement? » A rebel noticed the situation above.

« I don't know! But hey, as long as they give us all the fire or that laser show they have. I don't care! »

« This is it, men! Let's them hear our battle cry! » The retreating insurgents soon formed up with their remaining armors.

« Damn it. The enemy is regrouping. I think they're going for one final push! » FDF ground unit said.

« Onward! » « **SALVATIONNNN! ! !** »

« So stubborn, they should have known when they're defeated. Even a rabid dog knows that. »

The tide of battle was somehow against the defenders. All allied ground unit quickly held their position to repel the new wave of attack.

« Omega 5. On your six, break right! » Omega 2 said.

Already exhausted from the long duration of the battle, Omega 5's movement was slower than before. He feared that he wouldn't be able to make it.

Before the black drone could fire on him, multiple projectiles hit dead on, tearing up one wing of the drone.

While it was spinning down, the attacker continued shooting at it till it was decimated into dust.

« UAV destroyed! » Sky Eye confirmed the kill.

« Who was it? » Fencer asked.

« It's Mobius 2! » Archer spotted the flying figure.

The silver-haired dived into the drone pack and took down a second drone while damaging a few with her firing.

« They're tough, but not that tough. » said Mobius 2.

Before a drone could flank Mobius 2 from the side, the F/A-18E fighter bearing a blue ribbon destroyed it with two missiles.

« She's right. We simply have to make it more overkill! »

« If I'm not wrong. They must have the core inside them. » said Ice Tea. « That would be their weakness. »

Aiming toward one drone, Esteri 2 fired her weapon, destroying the main torso of the drone considerably with her magic ability. She fired a couple of more rounds. The stopping power of the 50 calibers lived true to their name.

« Alright! » Coffee exclaimed after she scored a kill. « I see no core, though. I guess they're just machine after all. »

« Use the cannon. » Viper said. « Blast them to smithereens! »

« Fan out! We have to take them out one by one. » Omega 1 said.

The 108th fighters and Witches along with Zero team soon reformed the element and start attacking the new enemy.

Green Tails 2 tackled onto one drone that was stray from the swarm. She destroyed it swiftly with cannon.

« Those drones, are they some kind of...neuroified? » She asked as she's witnessing it reduced to dust, rather being torn apart into pieces.

« Man-made Neuroi? What the hell...? » Omega 11 couldn't believe what his own voice.

« I thought that forbidden technology was already long gone. » Archer said. As a former Witch herself, she remembered some highlight lessons about how human has used man-controlled Neuroi as a weapon to against Neuroi. And that didn't work out well for them.

"I guess somebody doesn't want to let it go easily." Mobius 2 muttered to herself.

« Don't let those UAVs run wild. Our friendlies are suffering heavy damage. » Sky Eye said.

…

…

« Hostile fire! We're losing ground! » A Marine reported as the sound of machine gun firing rapidly in the background.

"Hold the line! Our fly boys and girls are pushing them back! As long as they're up there, we're not retreating!" Dachshund 1 encouraged.

« Keep away from the skyscraper walls, unless you want a broken-glass shower! » said an FDF soldier.

"Broken-glass shower?" Rico repeated the man's words.

"What is it, Rico?" Violet asked her platoon leader.

"An idea." She said, cocking her weapon.

…

…

« Another UAV destroyed. » Sky Eye confirmed Zero 2's kill.

« That's it! They're just machine. Don't show them any mercy! » Viper encouraged.

Mobius 1 spotted a certain craft in the center of the drone swarm. It's bearing a distinctive 'kite' shape, twin-engine, delta wings, and canards.

« That craft is different from the rest. It's not Neuroified, but it's fast. » Mobius 1 analyzed.

« Do you see its emblem? I think it's a butterfly. » Omega 11 said.

« Yeah, I notice it too. » Mobius 1 nodded. « Judging the way its movement is syncing with other drones. I think that's the leader. »

« So if we able to take it out, we might have a good chance stopping all these drones. » Edge came to a conclusion.

« Worth a shot. Let's take out that Butterfly Master! » Viper said.

« Butterfly Master… » Mobius 2 muttered.

Omega squadron focused their attack onto the lead craft, hoping that it put a stop to this horde. However, all missiles were cut down by the beam firing from escorts.

« No dice. Any missile that goes for the number 1 butterfly gets shot down by UAV lasers. » Omega 11 said.

The allied fighters then quickly switched to cannon, unleashing lead onto it.

To their disbelief, the unknown craft had repelled them with some kind of shield.

« It's like some kind of crazy sci-fi force field! *cough* Man…all this shouting is screwing up my voice… » The Britanian pilot groaned.

« Hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm~ »

 _That humming again._ Mobius 2 caught hearing that tune. It's the same humming she had heard back in the operation Magic Spear.

 _Sounds like a little girl._

« Damn, radio noise again. » Omega 11 complained. Unnecessary noises were always distracting.

« I think we have to take out all of its escort UAVs. »

« I have marked TGT on the potential escorts. All units, take them down before anything else. »

« Good job, Sky Eye. »

« These drones are more agile than the last one. » Edge said, trying to keep up with a drone.

« Stay focus. » Viper said.

As soon as Edge got a lock, « You're mine! » She pulled the trigger.

Edge left no chance for that thing to come back alive.

« Target that low flying aircraft. »

« For the Troia! »

The Witch noticed a small boat had launched a missile. It was coming toward...Shinden II!

« Zero 2. Incoming missile from below! Break. Break! »

« Damn, I already out of flare! » The intensified fighting back in the city has depleted all of her counter measure.

Then, to everyone bewilderment, the F-5 cut in, luring the heat-seeking missile away from Edge.

The missile soon detonated, damaging Viper's plane severely.

« Captain! » Edge cried out.

« Hey. Save for the water work. » Viper spoke out nonchalantly.

« I'm just gonna bail out here. Watch your six, Nagase. »

« Yes, I will. Please, bail out now while you still can. »

The pilot soon ejected away from the burning F-5.

« I see him. Good chute. Good chute. » Mobius 1 said.

« I'm calling in for the search and rescue helicopter now. » Edge began to make the call.

In the thick of the action when the allied fighters continued dog-fighting with UAVs, Mobius 2 noticed the movement of one particular drone. It was paying attention at Viper, who no longer has the capacity to fight back or do anything else except descending himself slowly into the opened water.

 _Is it going to..._

Mobius 2 detached away from her flight lead without saying a word.

« Mobius 2? »

« This is Edge. I have a bail-out pilot, we need immediately... »

Without a warning, a bright red beam made a pass by Edge's plane and coming straight toward the descending Viper in chute...

« What the?! »

« What happened? » Omega 2 asked.

« I saw it happened. » Omega 11 said, still in shock. « Mobius 2...has just saved Viper. One of those drones… »

« It tried to kill Captain?! » Edge exclaimed.

All the emotions erupted like volcano, they quickly took over the young female pilot's mind.

« Those bastards! I'll kill you all! »

« Calm down! » The ribbon pilot said, flying next to her. « My sister is still with him. »

« This is bad. They are descending toward the UAVs swarm. » Archer broke the news. « At this rate, they'll be caught in the cross fire. »

« We have to protect them! » Edge said.

…

…

"Phew! That's too close for comfort there, thanks kid." Viper let out a huge sigh, he then looked toward to his old plane which soon smashed into the sea.

"Damn, there goes my spare plane..."

A UAV swooped by, pushing him away by the jet stream.

"Take my hand." Mobius 2 said, already put a hand toward Captain.

"What are you planning?" He asked, regardless, he took her hand.

Then without further ado, Mobius 2 pulled out her sidearm and pointed toward the stretching parachute.

"Oh hell no—"

Bang-bang-bang!

Following the shots, Viper quickly feel the gravity was pulling him down.

"Waah!" The man yelped.

However, Mobius 2 was steadily descending him with her Striker so they were dropping in a manner like fast roping.

« They're going down. Fast! » Omega 5 exclaimed.

« How reckless! » Edge and many shared the same thought.

« That's her middle name. » Her own brother only sighed.

It's reckless alright, but it saved the time. Mobius 2 was successfully placed Viper into the water. The sea was pretty calm despite all the chaos above.

"Ok, I got this. I can swim. You go back up there, kid."

The Witch felt that she should take him back to the shore, instead of leaving him here.

"They need your help kid. So don't worry about this old timer."

"Roger." Mobius 2 said. She then refocused her energy into her Striker to make a boost.

"Oh-oh, one more thing. One more thing."

The Witch looked over her shoulder.

"I entrust my wingman to you two. Take good care of her."

"..."

She nodded silently before she took off.

"Good luck nuggets." Viper muttered as he looking up the raging sky bathed in the orange that look like blood.

…

…

« Zero 1's beacon confirmed. I'm transferring it to SAR now. » Sky Eye reported.

« Thanks for that, sister. It'd be sad if that old man died. » Mobius 1 said.

« Mobius 2, I… » Before Edge could say her thanks, Sky Eye radioed in.

« Attention all units. The Tokyo is almost back to our control. We can't let those guys have a win of this round. Eliminate all remaining hostiles. »

« We're on it! »

« Edge, you're flying with me. For temporary, of course. » Mobius 1 said, deciding that they should stick together.

« Alright. You lead the way. » Zero 2 complied.

« Mobius 2. Stick to our trails. »

« Roger. » His sister replied.

Below the sky, there was one big explosion that shattered a wall of glass of a certain building.

« Boo-ya! The enemy is retreating! » The allied soldier exclaimed.

…

…

« The enemy's line is crumbling. Attack their left flank. This is our chance! » The Fuso-affiliated Type 96 Wheeled APC rolled over a civilian car and opened fire at the enemy.

Thanks to a certain Witch conducted a certain act, the defenders were able to push the insurgents back.

"Good thinking of shooting the glass on top of the enemy infantry, Witch." said an FDF soldier.

"Men, and here I thought that you want to drop a whole building on them, Rico." A NUN Marine teased her.

"Hey now, I'm not that barbaric." The named Witch retorted.

The private looked to the street where fragments of glass were all over the place, along with some unfortunate rebel troops who were right by the building wall.

"The glass company is going to make a booming business after this."

"Whoa! Look up there, the whole sky has turned into a furball." Violet looked up to the sky.

The entrails of the planes, intertwined with other trails. They were mixed up, forming up into one giant sphere.

"Be safe up there, everyone." Rico muttered.

…

…

« UAV down. I'm not done yet! » Edge said.

The two fighters along with the silver-haired Witch tackled onto the TGT-marked drones.

« Mobius team and Zero 2 are going toe-to-toe with those butterflies. » Sky Eye reported. « Keep it up. »

Mobius 1 took down one more drone.

« Two remaining. »

Mobius 2 added one more to her kill list.

« One remaining. »

The honor went for the Shinden II.

« That was the last escort drone. » Sky Eye declared.

« Now let's pound on that bastard! » Green Tails 2 dived in, followed by Green Tails 1.

Two missiles were homing for that unidentified advanced craft. However, they were all missed.

To their surprise, the aircraft had pulled the Pugachev's Cobra as easily as a hand wave, and it did **many** times.

« Is this guy even human? » Fencer couldn't believe such a human would endure that many Gs crushing on him.

« Whatever drug that guy have, I want it. » Omega 11 said.

« Not now! »

 _It's like he's playing with them._

Mobius 2 couldn't help but to think that.

After another Cobra maneuver, the unidentified craft attacked with cannon, putting a few whole on Fencer.

« Fencer! » Green Tails 3 shouted out.

« I'm okay. I'm okay. Still able to combat. »

« Get out of there. This guy is way out of our league. » Omega 1 called it in.

The ribbon Witch noticed everyone strength was already exhausted. All special weapons used up, probably counter-measure too.

« Mobius 1. » Mobius 2 radioed in.

« What's up? You've got a plan? »

« Yes, I will act as a bait. Meanwhile, you take out that Butterfly Master. »

« Is your shield still holding up? »

« Don't worry, still plenty. »

« No, don't push yourself. » Edge cut in. « I should be the one to do it. »

« ...Dai-jo-bu. Maka-se-te. (Don't worry. Leave this to me.) » The Witch reassured her in a broken Fusoan language.

« ... »

« We'll be counting on you keeping any strangler away from us. » Mobius 1 said.

« …Understood. I got your six. » Edge finally gave a sigh of resigned.

« On your mark, Mobius 2. »

The Witch soon put herself right in front of the Butterfly Master.

« Haha! You want to play tag with me? I'm good at being 'it'! » said the teenage voice.

« The craft has taken the bait. » Sky Eye said.

« Alright. Take him for a ride, Ribbon Princess! » Omega 11 said.

« Now is your turn, Mobius 1. Go get him. » Archer said.

High and low, Mobius 2 pulled every move in the book. She was hoping she could make the plane to be stalled, however, it kept closing on her.

Mobius 1 fired a missile. It was a hit.

« That's it, Mobius 1, hit it! Hit it once more. » Omega 1 said.

« I can't believe how fast the two and that Butterfly Master move. I thought my craft was higher-spec. » Edge was in awe, seeing them were almost like…dancing.

The ribbon Witch led him through the towering buildings, hoping his overconfident would crash into something. To her frustration, his craft was as agile as her Striker.

It was far more advance, alien, to be precise. It was giving off the same bad vibe when she encountered those black drones.

The craft opened fire, sending a shower of sharp glass downward onto the flying Witch.

She put up the shield timely to stop both the firing beam and the glass effectively.

The unknown craft's speed was only reduced after Mobius 1 fired his cannon.

Mobius 2 did the same, firing the machine gun backward. The bullets hit, but the craft's speed was remained the same, it simply shrugged it off. She even felt that it was mocking her.

« How annoying. » Mobius 2 groaned.

« Come on, you can do better than that. » taunted the voice.

« Mobius 2's shield won't be able to hold out much longer. It's now or never, Mobius 1! »

« Time is almost up. » said A.I voice.

« Oh well, guess I will play with this one instead. » said the girl.

To Mobius 2 surprise, the advanced craft pulled a Wingover maneuver, it left the Witch behind as it was heading toward the ribbon fighter.

« The Butterfly Master is heading straight for you! » Ice Tea said.

« He's head on. Go for the front air intakes! Shoot! » Sky Eye gave the order.

The ribbon pilot pulled the trigger, the cannon roared, sending tracers at the aircraft frontally.

An explosion.

The two fighters passed over. And one victor was already decided by that point.

« Oh... »

The unknown advanced aircraft was soon burst in flame, disintegrating into pieces, debris, unlike the escorting Neuroified UAVs.

« Mobius 1 got him! The unidentified aircraft is down! »

Following Sky Eye's announcement, the roar of cheers erupted on the channel, bringing a few statics along the way.

« All UAVs offline! They're dropping. » Green Tails 3 shouted out in glee, seeing the remaining drones just dropped like flies, into the bottom of the ocean.

« Butterfly Master isn't bailing out...is it just me, or that guy just kind of give it up at the end there? » Omega 11 took notice.

« Nicely done, Prince. » Fencer congratulated.

« Couldn't have done it without my sister. »

By the distance, the ribbon Witch was lowering her altitude fast. Shinden II was quickly arrived by her side.

« Mobius 2, you're alright? » Edge asked with worry.

« Yeah...I'm good. » She waved her hand weakly.

« Yokatta... (Thank goodness...) »

« Hey, Sky Eye. How do you know that the front air intake was its weakness? » Mobius 1 asked.

« Uhm…video game. »

« What? »

« I mean. The front air intake is a fatal weakness to all kind of plane. Even a small bird can bring down a whole commercial airbus. »

« Right… » Mobius 1 began to reconsider should he follow Sky Eye's directive in the future.

« Task Force 108. Thank you for holding out for us. The reinforcements are here. »

« This is Viking Squadron. Look like we have just missed the party. » A friendly unit said.

« The reinforcement has arrived, and they're routing up the remaining enemy. »

« Is it…finally over? » Omega 11 asked, feeling the adrenaline was dismissing in his system.

« No. It isn't. » Unexpected to everyone, it's the voice of Hexer.

« Everyone. Sorry to burst up the joy bubble now, but I have to tell you all this. » There was a deep sigh before she revealed the news.

« Orussia has declared war on Liberion. »

« What?! »

« Impossible! »

Despite everyone exclaiming out of disbelief, Commodore Hayate continued.

« Erusea and Orussia joint force are now en route toward Liberion East Coast. »

\/ /\ \/

* * *

 **MIAMI, FLORIDA**

 **8/29/2019 - 0722 (1222 Zulu)**

« Magic to Warwolf leader. »

Plane's engine roared. The muffled distance explosions occurred above the sea city.

« Bogies are confirmed hostile on a direct course to Miami. »

« You're cleared to engage and destroy. »

« Warwolf. » Colonel William Bishop complied.

The Warwolf team comprised of four F-22 Raptors dived into the firework.

One by one, the Flankers were added to their kill list. But the number of bandits was remained strong.

« There're so many of them. » Warwolf 3 felt overwhelming by the sheer number.

« Where the hell did they fly out of? Surely, they didn't come from Caribbean? » said Warwolf 2.

« No, I heard that Orrusia has built some heavy mega flying carrier. That must be where they're coming from. » Warwolf 4 said.

« And the latest report saying that the Orrusia army are pouring out from the freighters docked in the harbor. »

« They must have planned this whole invasion for a long time. » Warwolf 2 groaned.

« Magic. What's happened to the 2nd Fleet? » Warwolf 1 asked.

« They're current engaging with Erusean, the Aegir Fleet. »

« The Invincible Fleet... » A heavy sighed escaped from Warwolf 4's mouth.

« Bandits approaching at high speed. We already have lost 4 allied aircrafts. Be careful. » AWACS said.

« One bandit at your sector, Skeleton squadron. Take it out. »

« I see it. One bandit Su-30… » A Skeleton member reported. « It's an Erusean fighter! »

« Who the hell is this guy? It's like he— »

The pilot's voice was abruptly cut off. A few seconds later his wingman updated the situation to AWACS.

« Skeleton 1 lost… »

« What the hell?! » Magic could not believe it with his own ears.

« This is Skeleton 3. I'm engaging an Su-30. Orange wing tip. »

« He's still onto me. I can't shake him! » The young pilot's voice was filled with horror. « I don't think I can't make it! »

« Skeleton 3. Get a hold of yourself! » Warwolf 1 radioed in.

« Skeleton 3. Caution! Missile! » His fellow flight cried out.

« AGGH— » The scream was cut off, following it was a radio static.

« Skeleton 3…is shot down. » AWACS declared.

« Damn! » Warwolf 1 cursed.

« Does anyone see a chute? Any chute? »

« Negative. He didn't make it. » An allied fighter answered coldly.

« You damn monster! That was our youngest pilot you have just murdered! »

« Skeleton 2. Take over the command and fall back. I'm sending the Tiger squadron in now. »

« Sounds like we got some trouble maker in the mix, Colonel. » said Warwolf 2.

« Magic to Warwolf, enemy aircrafts are moving eastward, out of sea. »

« Roger that. We're pursuing. » Warwolf 1 soon directed his course.

« This is Jericho 2. We have deployed in the Midtown Interchange and are engaging hostiles. »

« Jericho 2. We copy. Our air units will continue to engage. » Magic replied.

« Everyone is aware of the situation. Do what you have to do. »

« Magic to Warwolf 1. Four bandits coming north at very low altitude. Heading is zero-two-five. »

The battle for Miami was all over the place. Plane shot down. Plane crashed into the stadium. Plane crashed into the highway, where the SAMs were deployed.

« Damn! »

It's terrible. But Warwolf 1 decide to ignore all of that. To him, the only mission he needed to do was to fend off these invaders!

« Warwolf 1. Fox 3. » He fired the special weapon, taking out 3 Flankers at the same time.

« Colonel watch out! It's that Su-30. »

His wingman's warning came too late. The missile was already released and coming right toward Colonel Bishop's plane.

The missile struck.

« Shit! »

The system alarm went off repeatedly.

The instrument's circuit was fried. He no longer had the control of his plane.

« Panel…dead. Engine. »

« Get out of there, Colonel. Eject! »

Despite the Warwolf 2's advice, Bishop stubbornly wanted to put the bird back to his control.

Nothing was responding. The F-22 Raptor he's flying now had turned into a big hunk of metal that starting to fall from the sky.

« Hit it. Get out. You're on fire! » Guts pleaded.

Warwolf 1 pulled the emergency lever. The canopy was detached, allowing the ejection seat to launch.

It's a glimpse before his damaged F-22 was blew up in mid-air.

It was a rough and awful experience for Bishop as he was dangling in the air, in the mix of the heated air battle.

A friendly F-16 was shot down by one particular plane, Su-30 with orange-tipped wings.

He has dreamt about his death, many times.

And the nightmare was soon to become…his reality.

Like a true predator, the black and orange Su-30 turned and approached toward him closer and closer…

…


	7. Mission 05: Silver Bridge

_Noise. Noise. Noise. Noise..._

 _Well, 'noise' that I was talking about here was not the sound one, but the TV screen was showing it. A running screen of random dots, black and white._

 _There were many channels that I love to watch, cartoon and science for kids. And then they're all gone when our town was occupied, bummer…_

 _The only thing that my aunt's vintage TV (the one that has a big box behind the screen) could show was the invader's boring propaganda and some of their permitted shows, which were terribly bad._

 _But there's one show that I was able tolerate. It was the Princess Cossette's speech._

 _She was like an angel. Beautiful, and her hair was like gold. She was like a shining star on stage. I love hearing her voice too. Her speech was…interesting to hear. She shared her own pain like everyone else._

 _Even though the TV didn't say anything about the war, when I took a look outside the window today. I noticed that the soldiers were…happy. Usually they would complain or bored about their patrol duty, but today they're getting excited for some reason._

 _As for my neighbors, there were worries and…fear, just like the day where these soldiers came into our town._

 _I climbed on top of the roof of my house to see if anything was happening outside. The scenery was pretty much the same, calm and peaceful._

 _When I looked up to the clear blue sky, I spotted a…person who was flying._

 _I have heard a lot for stories about these people. The protectors of mankind, Witches._

 _And I thought she was an angel for a moment there._

 _~ The girl's diary ~_

 _\- Page 7 -_

...

* * *

"We're short on time so I'll make this brief." Following Commodore Hayate's voice, the system screen behind her came to life, and soon revealed the US mainland.

It showed 2 masses of color, one is blue, the other is red. The red has taken over a number of states such as Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Louisiana.

There was a white line separating between the blue and red, and this white line was being pushed slowly toward inland by the red-colored mass.

"It's been seventy-two hours after the Orussia Federation's boots had landed on the US soil."

"I know many of you are worried about your families and friends, but rest easy. Even though the enemy have made such a bold attack, they still account for the danger of Stonehenge Site number 1 set on the West Coast. So far, the Washington DC is holding its ground as we speak. It had repelled back many Erusean air attacks thanks to Liberion Witches."

"Moreover, the defense division is being led by Colonel Sawyer. I've served under him, I can say he is one tough SOB, and a good leader."

The screen then rapidly zoomed out away from the Liberion mainland, it then jumped into a certain strip of island located in Pacific Ocean called: Comona Islands.

"And in order to get some pressure off for the US. President Harling, the Liberion Commander-in-chief and his Joint Chiefs of Staff have decided to utilize their maneuverable, low-orbiting spacecraft, the Arkbird."

"The Arkbird?" Fencer repeated the name. The whole room was rowdy up with the mutterings.

"Originally, the Arkbird's ordnance was used to clear out the asteroids. However, the Liberions has finished modifying the laser gun that can be used to strike the ground targets."

"*whistle* Guess it's time they bring out the big gun." Omega 11 said.

"This is our job. We are tasked to defend the SSTO (Single-stage-to-orbit **)** shuttle that carries the said weapon. It will be launched from the Comona base."

"How come they don't launch it from their own mainland?" asked Rico.

"The enemy is already one step ahead. They've planned some spies and sabotaged the facility."

"At this moment, Comona Base's mass driver is the only site that is capable to launch the SSTO."

"The Orussians and Eruseans have responded by deploying a large number of their aircraft to prevent the launch. There's an additional intel revealing that the enemy will also deploy airborne forces. They might intend to secure the weapon instead destroying it."

"Task Force 108 will work alongside with the Comona's stationed units and additional Liberion air squadrons coming from Hawaii."

"A large-scale air battle is expected. Make sure you prepare your aircraft thoroughly, as battle-ready as you can make it."

"Any words about those drones attack back in Tokyo, Commodore?" asked one of the pilots.

"Not at this time. We are continuing to develop intelligence."

Hayate frowned, silently endured a headache.

"We must win this battle. Otherwise…the situation will become more difficult for the Liberions and us."

A silence, but everyone knew **that** must be done.

"You're dismiss."

\/ /\ \/

There's one more thing on the plate that Commodore Hayate did not mention it.

The Tokyo attackers' identity.

They've revealed themselves. By one video clip uploaded on the Internet.

I opened my phone and run that clip once more.

« Twenty years after the Ulysses Disaster. » A male voice said. The clip used some old shots of the moment Ulysses struck the Earth.

« We have faced untold pain and suffering. »

A number of taken pictures showing the condition of poor people living in a refugee camp that quickly turned into a massive slum. Deaths. Bodies lined up. The weeping, harrowing faces.

« Even now, the fragments of Ulysses still lurk near our planet. There is very chance that they could rain down upon us in the future, thus, repeating the tragedy of Ulysses. »

« We humanity, must united. And yet, for the past twenty years, our government and yours have disappointed you by their own little squabble. War broke out. This very war that you are in it. You are in **it!** »

« We, the so-called Lost Generation, we must take action! We must create a new order to replace those old, delusional minds. »

« We must form a new, powerful, united front to save our planet from oblivion. »

« All mankind must come together now to deal with this crisis, **SALVATION!** »

« Salvation is what we must do! »

« Brothers. Sisters. Of the new generation. Come, join us! For we, are the Sons of Troia! »

A symbol appeared at the end of the clip. It's looked similar to the Spartan Helmet.

"Troia?" asked a familiar voice.

"It's in Latin. It means Troy." Blake answered to Amber's question.

I was momentary shocked to see the Badger girls were already behind me. I guessed 'stealth' was covered in their training.

"Achilles' Heels, right?" This time, Omega 11 who overheard the clip's sound, joined in.

"..." "..." "..."

The silence was what he only received.

"What? I watched the movie."

"Sons of Troia, the global terrorist group…" I said, helping the man to get out of the awkward situation. "That's what NUN has decided."

"But the media is sucking up with this new war developing like bee with honey. And stocks are falling, that's for sure." Omega 11 said.

"This war really has turned into a complicated one." The girls sighed.

"Well, Commodore Hayate hates this more than anybody." Green Tails 1 spoke up.

"She'd rather have us to stay in Fuso and help re-establishing the security and order. Instead, we were ordered to move, to fight this war, like a regular force."

"Speaking of the media…Jay-man." Rico turned to me. "How come you're still here? Shouldn't you ask for a ride to take you to the Liberion to cover those stories?"

"I decided to tagalong with you guys." I answered it straightaway. "To me, it would feel...bad, to leave you guys just like that."

"Hehe, glad to have you on board. Just make sure to take a lot of good pictures of me, mate." Omega 11 said.

"Will do."

Even though I didn't start in this line of work for long, I had a…hunch. As long as I stick with them, there will be stories of the century to cover.

Through these young Witches, these pilots, and them; the Mobius team.

Stories that I longed to seek.

Another familiar face soon entered the mess hall.

"Ah Mobius 2. Good to see you walk on yourself on two feet looking like a zombie." Rico greeted her in an unusual way.

"…"

"What…?" The staring from the silver-haired caused the twin-tailed felt uncomfortable.

"…nothing." She answered curtly, then dragged herself to the counter to get some hot chow.

I noticed Mobius 2's expression was quite down. It's the first time I saw her like that.

And I learned the reason why...

Zero 1, also known as Viper, the leader of Joint Test Flying Evaluation Squadron, was missing in action.

After the battle for Tokyo, the rescue helicopter quickly scrambled. But he was never found.

It took many hours to search, until some eyewitness said that an insurgent boat had arrived to his last location. They presumed he's been captured.

'It's not your fault.' His wingman, Edge, said this to her. She knew that Mobius 2 had done all she could. There's no reason to blame or criticize her.

And yet, Mobius 2 herself...assumed that it was.

It was her fault.

\/ /\ \/

Once the Mirai arrived to the destination, everyone was rushing all over the place.

Omega, Green Tails squadron and Mobius team quickly launched away.

Except Esteri team, the two Witches were remained on board. They have performed their night patrol and took down some reconnaissance flights. Commodore Hayate want them to have some shut eyes, and act as the last line of defense for Mirai in case of emergency.

As for me, I decided to join with 108's Ground Force as we're approaching to Comona Base, a SSTO launching facility.

It was a collaborative project of Liberion and many countries, including Erusean and Orussia.

It was built to be a bridge to outer space, with a mass driver 7.5 miles in length.

"This place didn't change much." I said, looking at the mass driver.

"You've been here before?" Violet asked.

"Uh-huh. For the space summit two years ago." I answered.

"Well, one thing I can say." Blake said. "This place is about to _change_ a lot for the next 24 hours."

"Girl, that's dark." Amber hated the negative vibe.

"Alright, we have our order. Let's dig in." Rico called out.

While everyone was doing their own job, my eyes looked upward to the dark blue sky. Hoping to catch the sight of Arkbird, the magnificent giant white bird that was flying above the Earth.

Its purpose was to clean up those asteroid fragments floating in the Earth atmosphere.

I wonder how President Harling would feel about this? Using the very symbol of peace.

Turned it into a weapon.

How ironic…

Not only the United States were under attacked. The remaining Europe countries that were not fallen by Erusea's hand are now fighting the invading Orussia.

I can only picture the whole world now is truly…engulfed in the flame of war.

...

* * *

 **MISSION 5**

 **SILVER BRIDGE**

 **1215hrs. September 2nd, 2019**

 **Comona Islands / / 11° 43′ 56" N 170° 5′ 15" W**

 **Cloud Cover: Scattered**

 **Operation: Delivery Stork**

\/ /\ \/

« The SSTO craft is being prepped to be launch. » said a Comona's staff.

« We have to make this launch successful. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a home for us to come back. »

« Yeah! Let's do this! »

« Attention all aircraft. This is Comona Base. »

« This supply launch is critical so maintain the air superiority until the launch is complete. Let's all do our jobs and see this through to the very end. That is all. »

« Begin the count down. 10 minutes…starting, now! »

« We've only got one window of opportunity for this launch. Shoot down as many fighters as possible to preserve top cover for the mass driver. » said Sky Eye.

« All aircraft engage. Weapon free. »

 **[BGM: AC4 - Comona]**

« Omega 1, engage. »

« Green Tails 1. Engage. »

« Mobius 1, engage. »

« Mobius 2, engage. »

The 108 fighters and the Witch began the dance with Orussia fighters.

« Bandit on my six. »

« Enemy aircraft on my nose. »

« I've got multiple Flankers. They're going for the Mass Driver. »

« Don't fly in a straight line! » A voice gave the advice.

« These Liberion cowboys are pretty good. » An Orussian pilot flew in a Su-27 said.

« Negative. Those planes are NUN. »

« Mobius 1. He's on you. Turn hard! » The Ribbon Fighter narrowly evaded the incoming missile.

« Thanks for that, Green Tails 2. »

« Anytime. »

« Alpha Mike Foxtrot! » Omega 5 said, sending a MiG-21 to meet its maker.

« Mobius 2. Incoming missile. Deflect! » Sky Eye cried out.

The Ribbon Witch deployed the shield, taking the missile head-on. After the explosion, the Witch immediately counter-attacked, damaging the fighter's engine. The damaged fighter had no choice but to turn back.

« Lock on. You're mine! » Fencer took down a MiG-29.

« There are a lot of vigorous boys out there, fufufu. » Archer chuckled.

« Looks like we got ourselves a real dogfight here! »

« The enemy has a large formation of formation of transport planes escorted by a squadron of fighters. » Sky Eye updated. « They are conducting an air assault to capture this base. »

« They're dropping their troops! » A ground unit cried out, seeing the Orussia cargo planes deployed the assault force.

« Airborne tanks spotted! »

« Go for the parachute! Shoot their parachute! » The AA-guns tore up the sky with lines of tracers.

« They're already over the launch site. »

« Destroy them before they hit the ground. »

« This is Pikeman 1. We're engaging enemy paratroopers at the Alpha Line. Requesting air support! »

« The ACVs are moving this way. Don't let them get near to the mass driver! »

« We've got tons of enemies above and below. » Archer reported the situation, seeing numerous descending parachutes have blanketed all over the island.

« Damn, I can't believe they're doing an air drop. » said a friendly unit.

« We have to defend this base all by ourselves. »

« Don't forget about us, boys! » The leader of Wild Badgers platoon announced their presence.

The Marines witnessed the brave front of the young girls equipped themselves in a towering Land-type Striker. They moved fast along the trenches, taking out any threat that approach near to the defend line

« Those girls are Ground Witches! I think we're going to be ok. »

« Well, don't just stand there. Start shooting, Corporal! »

The Marines quickly complied their Sergeant's order.

« I've shot down a few, but it seems I still haven't made a dent yet. » Omega 11 sighed.

« Work it harder, Omega 11. You hear those two siblings complaining? » Fencer said.

« Well, those two don't talk much, but I guess you're right. »

« Attention all personnel. Complete final launch checks immediately. » A Comona Base's staff announced over PA.

Despite the battle was escalating, the staffs performed their task with calm.

« This is Rocketeer Squadron. We're have entered the AO. We even brought two EW (Electronic-warfare) aircrafts with us. »

« Yes. This should be a good edge. EW aircraft have ESM on board. They will improve your dogfighting capability, enhancing missile range and more. » Sky Eye explained.

« Thanks for the assist. » Omega 1 said.

« Yee-haw! Here we go, cowboys! Get them! » A high-spirited pilot shouted out over the channel.

The planes' contrails. The missiles' contrails. The smoke. The explosions. Everything intertwined together like a spider web.

« Now this is the biggest furball I've been invited. »

« Mobius 2 slashed a bandit. » Sky Eye confirmed her kill.

« Friendly hit. Rozky! » The Orussia only looked at his comrade's burning plane exploded in mid-air.

Despite the lost of one allied and many before him, the attackers continued press on without any waver, in fact. These pilots were getting excited.

« Now this is the air combat I've been waiting for! » said a young Orussian pilot.

« Heh, you all don't even care about the space craft. Just wanting to have a good fight huh, comrade? »

« Warning. Enemy reinforcement inbound. They're Erusean fighters. »

« Watch out, guys. I've spotted two Raptors among those flights. They have rose emblem. » Green Tails 3 reported.

« White 2 to White Leader. The enemy is still holding the line. » reported the Erusean F-22 pilot.

« We really can't rely on those Orussians out there. » White 1 said. « The bombers behind us will engage the facilities. Concentrate on wiping out the enemy fighters. »

« They also have got a Witch with them. »

 _A Witch? Even out here?_

Grunting, the lead pilot did something that was rather unexpected.

« Do yourself a favor and get out of there, pants-less girl. This is the fight between real pilots! You are **not** belonged here! »

His voice transmitted right through the opened frequency, which took many by surprise.

"What?" Mobius 2 was rather astonished by this.

« Whoa! Somebody is edgy out there. » Omega 11 said.

The enemy Raptors flew right by, completely ignored the silver-haired Witch.

Before Mobius 2 could make the pursuit, the intense dogfighting conducted by other allied fighters forced her to get away, to avoid colliding.

Among this frantic chaos.

Explosions. Roaring cannons. Roaring jets.

Driven by their own adrenaline and bloodlust, the pilots sought out their own prey to hunt.

Even her brother, Mobius 1. The intense battle drawn him in, he unconsciously slowly turned into a Grimm Reaper. No plane could escape from his scythe once he made a swing at them.

She somehow felt that she was not welcomed to this…furball.

She was a different kind. And alone, she was.

...

...

"Isn't she working too hard?" I asked.

"What's that?" Rico heard my question.

"Mobius 2's magic. I think at this point, her magic should be already exhausted, but she still fights on."

"Well, that's her ability."

"Her ability?"

"In a nutshell: the strongest battery that can last long. She is the most endurance Witch than anyone here in the unit." She explained.

...

...

« Those Raptors have a stealth capability. It's hard to detect them on radar so reply on your eyes. And don't let them get behind you. You'll be in a world of hurt if they do. » Sky Eye gave the advice.

After taking down another MiG-29, Mobius 1 looked toward the Erusea-affiliated F-22. One thing he could say about the pilot flying in it: Amateur.

 _Even though they have the best craft, they don't know how to utilize it._

« Sanitize my 6 o'clock. » White 1 ordered.

The Erusea-affiliated F-14 tried to flank Mobius 1, but the Ribbon Fighter didn't give them such change. He timely pulled a hard break, repositioning himself behind the hostiles.

« Mobius 1. Fox 2. » He fired away as soon as the HUD locked on target.

« He got me— _tsssk!_ » The voice cut off abruptly by the explosion.

« We've lost White 6. »

« Damn, that was one of ours! »

 _A missile would be a waste on this bastard. Let's just gun him down._

« Mobius 1. Gun. Gun. » The 20mm cannon placed in the F/A 18's nose unleashed hot leads.

The projectiles hit struck one of F-22 Raptor's twin engine, causing smoke and fire.

« A Raptor is trailing smoke. Whose kill was that? » asked a friendly.

« Mobius 1 did that. » Omega 1 confirmed.

« Sierra Hotel! » Fencer exclaimed.

« Who was it that shot me?! See who's responsible for that shot! » White 1 demanded.

« It's a ribbon! » His wingman reported.

« Ahh! To think those low-borns can humiliate me like that! »

« Sire. We must retreat. We can't do anything with the damaged craft. »

He really wanted to stay and fight. But surviving was his priority as well.

« You better remember this. » The pilot said the cheesy line before he turned back.

« Those two Raptors are bugging out. I guess we are too much for them. » said Archer.

« Judging his cocky voice earlier, could he be related to the royal? » asked Fencer.

« Could be. Now I kinda feel bad for the guys who have to serve under him. »

« Stay focus. The enemy is on the offensive. » Sky Eye reminded them.

« I saw a ribbon emblem on his plane. That guy is good. » The Orussia fighters started to pay attention to the ace of 108.

« I'll take him on! »

« It's getting very intense outside. should we abort the launch? » asked a staff.

« Are you crazy?! Continue with the count down! »

« There's no way we would let all these hard works go down the drain. »

One by one, the planes were falling, burning, cutting through the sky with a dense black trail.

« Yahoo! » A Liberion pilot shouted out gleefully after he scored another kill.

« So many of them. I even lost count of my own kill. » Omega 6 said.

« You had it easy, I can't even confirm kills in this furball. » Sky Eye sighed.

Green Tails 2 tackled onto a Su-27. Before she could use the cannon, a friendly F-16 swooped pass over her by one o'clock.

« Woah-hey! Watch it! » Fencer shouted out. « Green Tails 2 to Sky Eye, can you tell those nuggets to keep out of the fight? One of them almost collide into me! »

« S-Sorry! » A rookie responded.

« Don't let that air squadron get in close. All we need is a flock of angry birds overhead. » Omega 1 said.

« Stay in your element. I don't want to see any fratricide. » Archer said.

« Shite, bandit on my tail! » Omega 11 shouted.

« Omega 11, you are spiked! » Omega 5 gave the warning.

The Flanker released the missile.

« Jink! Right! » Omega 11 made a sharp turn but the missile detonated in mid-air, damaging Omega 11's plane with shrapnel.

« Omega 11, status report! » Omega flight leader asked.

« *cough*...yeah...I think I have to bail out here. I'll leave the rest to you guys. »

The Britannian pilot soon ejected once he was near the beach.

« Another plane added to the bill. » Fencer muttered. « He is like Nipa, the 502nd Witch back in the war. »

« Except this one is a King Bailout, not Queen Crashing. » Omega 5 said.

« Hahaha! »

« The ground force is retreating. Look like they've given up capturing the base. » The ground unit reported.

« Sky Eye here. B2 bombers approaching from the west. » The AWACS updated the situation.

« Seem like they decided to flatten this whole place instead. » Mobius 1 said.

« Intercept them before they reach the launch site. »

« Negative contact, nothing on my radar. » said a friendly aircraft.

« Like F-22, B2s have a high degree of stealth. »

« Three minutes to launch. » Comona Base reported in.

« I have three bogeys. Judging by the signature…they're Witches. »

« Witches, huh? Never expect to face those girls again. » Archer sighed.

« I don't know if I can do it. » One of the pilots said with a nervous tone. If it's a drone or aircraft, he would gladly to take them on, but a Witch? It was rather a…'grey' area to tread in.

Moreover, there's no glory in killing them.

« Mobius Team, intercept them. » Sky Eye chose the best and suitable team to meet them.

« Mobius 2. Copy. » replied the Witch, who fully aware her role, and the consequence of it. Then again, if not her, then who will?

« Mobius 1. I can handle them on my own. »

« Kindness will get you killed, sister. »

The Ribbon Fighter soon joined with the Ribbon Witch side-by-side.

« I will take care the leader. You can dance with the other twos. » Her brother suggested.

« Roger that. » The Witch coldly responded.

\/ /\ \/

* * *

 **/ / MATAGOT \ \**

 **Kingdom of Erusea Air Force** **/** **13th Air Division / 9th Tactical Witch Squadron**

Their symbol was a black cat's full face, showing the blue-color eyes without pupil. With a coin and a rose place bearing on both side of the roundel.

Gently cocked the RPK-16, Matagot 1 finished checking her weapon. She took a look over the shoulder. On the right, there's her wingman, Matagot 2, still grinning over the fine loot she got from their previous sortie, a minigun, like the one showed in those Liberion action movies.

On her left, Matagot 3, a new member who joined recently, despite her thin-looking body. She got quite a stamina, hence explained why she was able to carry the missiles man-portable launcher with one hand at ease.

A Witch often armed themselves to the teeth, but in this case, they armed themselves quite heavy. Too heavy, in fact.

« Tally-ho! There's one Witch coming for us. » Her wingman, Matagot 2, reported.

« No, there are two, one fighter, it's flying with her. » Matagot 3 remarked.

« A Witch and a pilot? This should be interesting. » The flight lead said.

« More like they are underestimating us. » The brute girl disagreed.

« We'll see. » The squadron leader then turned back to Matagot 3.

« How are you holding up? »

« Y-yes, Captain. It's alright. I can still fight. » She reassured the leader, but there's a hint of tired behind her voice.

Before they arrived here, they have encountered two Liberion-affiliated F-15Cs on the way. They successfully shot them down, at the expense of Matagot 3's magic.

Back there, to her surprised, the Liberion pilots must have thought that the Witch carrying a launcher posing a higher threat than her and her wingman. She had no choice but to ordered Matagot 3 to become the bait while they're flanking those fighters.

In that air combat, Matagot 3 took three missiles frontally. Her magic shield held firm, but everyone can guess that it had exhausted quite an amount of mana.

« Just hang back. We will take care of them. »

Matagot 1 decided it would be best to have the girl stand-by and conserve energy. It'll be a long way back home.

« Yeah, like she said. » Matagot 2 said.

To her confidence, Matagot 1 thought that two of them should be suffice.

But that was soon to change.

 **[BGM: Aldnoah Zero OST - Keep on keeping on]**

« There're only two Witches are engaging. The last one is hanging back. » Sky Eye updated.

« Is she a leader? » Omega 1 asked.

« Negative, she could be a rookie. Usually a mother hen doesn't want to put her chick into harm way. » Archer expressed her opinion as a former Witch.

« Let the Mobius team handle this. We still got those B2 Bombers to worry about. »

The 108 Task Force decided to split up their force in order to deal with the incoming threats and maintain air cover for SSTO shuttle.

« Two minutes to launch. » Comona Base said. « All stations. Final pre-fight check. Go over everything one last time. »

Matagot 2 had herself tackled with the hostile Witch while her leader chased the fighter.

« A Super Hornet, huh? Lets see if my Lastochka can catch up with you! »

Matagot 2 focused her magic into her Striker MiG-29A Fulcrum. She fired the weapon while she was the move. She had the tendency of being a happy trigger. Even if she missed, that was fine, as long as she was able to taunt them. She wanted them to come to her instead.

It was a game of tag. Matagot 2 managed to land a few hits on the Witch, but the hostile timely deployed the shield to deflect those attacks.

The distance between them was maintained.

Even though Matagot 2 tried to shorten it, the silver-haired gave her no such chance.

 _She is different from the others._

Matagot 2 had done many sorties before, she fought the Romagna, Britannia Witches. Karslanders were the toughest (thank god for their scarce number)...and Liberion were rather somewhat unpredictable, but this...

 _This Witch is on a whole new level._

« What's that symbol? A ribbon? »

She spotted a ribbon symbol on the Striker, so was on the fighter's tails.

The silver-haired suddenly turned her front toward Matagot 2, with the machine gun placed by the hip.

The attack didn't cause any damage to the Erusean, but it certainly taunted her.

« I'll make sure to clip your wings! » She boastfully declared, activating the weapon system to rotate the gun barrels.

The roar of minigun blended in with 20mm cannon's in the distance.

The Ribbon Fighter fired the weapon in moderate short bursts. The large projectiles were stopped and deflected by Matagot 1's magic shield.

« What is with this pilot? He is matching my move. »

She learned the pilot's intention was to disable her Striker.

 _Is he familiar with the Witch's flying style?_

With the Striker Su-33 model, she easily did the post-stall maneuver, allowing the F/A-18E to overpass her. Matagot 1 aimed her weapon at the cockpit, but the Ribbon Fighter already rotated and swiftly pulled himself away from her line of shot.

« Tsk! He's good. His movements are better than I expected. He won't let me take a shot. »

« Captain, do you need my assistant? » asked Matagot 3.

« Negative. Go help Matagot 2, I think that ribbon Witch is more than she can handle. »

« Ah shut up! » responded Matagot 2. « I'm just getting warming up! You stay right where you are, Matagot 3. This will be over soon! »

Matagot 1 clicked her tongue. Her wingman's stubbornness often had put herself into hairy situations more than a few occasions.

« Come on! You want a piece of me!? Come and get it. »

Matagot 2 put herself in a stationary position and then fired the minigun in a full 180 degree. The tracers followed the silver-haired Witch relentlessly, even when she dived into the clouds.

The Erusea Witch leveled her weapon up high while continued firing. Until…

"Guh…!"

What entered her eyes was a strong ray sun. She felt her eyes were being pierced and at the same time, she felt dizzy all of sudden. To her unbeknownst, at this moment, she already walked herself in a deadly trap set up by the very bogey she intended to destroy.

In the moment of recovering, Matagot 2 spotted the Ribbon Witch was diving toward her.

"Shit—!"

With a firm trigger pulling, 7.62mm rounds hit the Erusea Witch's deployed shield mercilessly. Round after round, round after round, until the blue shield was finally shattered like broken glass.

What came next was the inevitable outcome.

While the attack caused a major damage on the Matagot 2's Striker, a few bullets pierced through her legs. Even her lower abdomen received the same fate.

"GAH—hah!"

Matagot 2 realized that her wings were brutally cut apart by this reaper, and she then fell down from the sky.

« Mobius 2 shot down a bandit. » Sky Eye reported coldly.

Usually he would be pleased if her kill was either a drone or a fighter, since the human, adults were flying in it, but seeing a young Witch like Mobius 2 was shot down like that? Frankly, it left a bad taste in his mouth.

« Matagot 2 is down! » Matagot 3 cried out with horror.

« No! It can't be! » The leader could not believe it. She scanned the surrounding, confirming Matagot 2 was falling, and Matagot 3 already dived in, hoping to catch her in time.

« The third one is going for it. She is going to save the downed Witch! » said ARRF-affiliated fighter.

 _I have to save them. Even if it means...!_

Matagot 1 soon decreased her speed, to which Mobius 1 noticed it.

The Witch then did something that made the Ribbon Fighter was wary.

She dropped the heavy machine gun along with her sidearm, effectively putting her out of a fight. She even put both of her hands up to her head's level.

There were a few rules regarding in dogfighting with a Witch, but ultimately, when the Witch had dropped all of her weapons, it automatically made she as a non-threat, and will be treated like a bail-out pilot.

With that, Mobius 1 soon disengaged.

Seeing that the Ribbon Fighter had let her go, Matagot 1 immediately descended down to where her squadron was.

« Final launch checks complete. Launch in 60 seconds. »

« Incoming missile. Take cover! » A staff called out.

An explosion occurred in the background.

« We are gonna launch this thing even if it kills us! » The senior staff declared with a determined voice.

« Come on. Launch it now! » Many urged the shuttle to take off.

...

...

 _She's bleeding!_

She felt the warm of Matagot 2's blood was pouring out from her wounds. She needed to stop it. She wanted to, but...but...

The **Death**. It was still there, pointing the still-warm barrel at her and Matagot 2 in her arms.

"Pl...Please..." Matagot 3 felt her brain numb, but she mustered all the strength she could. To plead with... _this_ being.

While her hair, her pale complexion was resembling to a doll, bearing little emotion. Her blue eyes were intense, like a dagger. They did not have any intention of letting them go.

"Please...we're surrender." Matagot 3 was struggling a bit in holding the wounded, but she finally proved her words by removing the weapons. She dropped them all to the blue ocean below. "Just...let me take care of her wounds, please..."

"…"

Her heart was beating like drum.

She then noticed the Death...well, a young girl, like her. Her expression suddenly turned severe. She looked...hurt, angst, for some reason.

A few more seconds passed, the silver-haired Witch then lowered her weapon as she was receiving some directive over her comms.

"...Understood."

By this very moment, the tension was gone. The Death no longer had the interest in taking their lives.

« 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…ignition! »

Then from the above, a familiar face reunited with them.

" Matagot 2, 3!" Matagot 1 called out.

"Captain!" Matagot 3 was so relief to see her leader was well and unharmed.

"Erza..." The wounded Witch tried to reach out to her. Her blood-soaked hand was soon held by her dear friend.

"Hush! Hush! It's alright, now. It's alright, now." The named Witch put up a smile.

« SSTO increasing speed. » The staff reported.

« Passing check point 1. »

« Passing check point 2. »

« Passing check point 3. »

The shuttle moved all the way, toward the end of the silver bridge to outer space.

« Lift off! » The SSTO craft launchced away like it was got slingshot.

« Have a safe trip! » Violet waved good bye.

« Whoa. »

« Yeah! » The allied fighters admired the launching scene.

« Observation room reporting. The SSTO has reached 50,000 feet. It is now immune to enemy action. »

« The launch is a success! »

Cheers echoed, not only from space center staffs but also combatants and fighter pilots who shared the same spirit.

It's soon became clear to Matagot 1 that they had failed the mission. Matagot 2 is injured, and now they're captured by the enemy.

\/ /\ \/

I saw things today that I can't forget.

When the space shuttle had left the Earth, Mobius 2 returned with three prisoners, Witches nonetheless, in tow.

Informed before hand, the corpsman and nurse staffs rushed to the wounded Witch.

"Take her to the emergency room. Ready the transfusion now." said the Corpsman.

"Hang in there."

"Whoa-there!" The Marines stopped the two Erusean girls, separating them from their wounded fellow who was quickly taking inside the medbay.

"Sorry girls. But I need to put this on you first."

"What's that?" I asked, spotting a certain large object in the Marine's hand.

"It's a…specialized prison collar for the Witches." Violet answered.

"The one that make you can't summon your familiar? Can't make you use your magic?" I was familiar about the device.

"That's the one."

The leader squadron quietly allowed the Marines to place the collar in her neck and locked it tightly. The youngest one soon received the same treatment.

"Just seeing it makes me puke." Rico muttered.

"Don't worry, we got the best doctor in the house. She will make it through." A female Marine reassured them.

One thing for sure, even though we were at war. The Witches were treated with a high sense of respect.

The two captured Witches were soon guided by the Marines to elsewhere.

"How old do you think she was?" asked Rico.

"…probably younger than you." I answered.

"Never mind, I really shouldn't have asked that." For some reason, she felt…awkward about that question.

…

…

Placing her bottoms by the boxes, Mobius 2 relieves herself from the still-warm Striker Unit. The Unit had performed well.

She quietly took a look at her dominance hand, the hand holding the trigger.

She remembered that Erusean Witch's tearful face, pleading, begging for their life…no, for her friend's life.

It reminded her so much about that moment, back in the Middle East conflict…

« Hey sis, still alive? » Her brother radioed in, taking her mind back to the present.

"I'm fine."

« You did what you have to do. »

"I know..."

The Witch quietly looked up to the sky above and the surroundings. They all blended in, becoming a scene of tranquil.

\/ /\ \/

"No!"

"Oh come on! Please, let me use your spare plane. Please-please-please!"

Before the Britannian pilot called Omega 11's pleading, the Karsland-born female pilot named Fencer still denied his request.

"What are you, five? And my answer is still stand!" Fencer was annoyed.

"What happened?" I asked one of the crewmen.

"King Bailout has trashed all of his sweet reserved planes so he is out asking for some more."

While the scene was continued invoking some laughter from the spectators, a sound of alarm rung up.

"What's going on?"

"We have some friendly aircrafts incoming."

I quickly run the flight deck. I noticed the silver-haired siblings were there as well.

The aircraft to into view as it ws making the landing, in a VTOL style, like a Harrier.

"Shinden II?"

Following the advanced craft's landing, three more figures, they were Witches, Fuso Witches, thanks to their iconic Miko-like attire.

"Yah, we meet again, Mobius 2." greeted the pony-tailed Fuso Witch carrying a katana.

…


End file.
